Abstract Deep space is the new frontier for human exploration, with Moon and Mars identified as fundamental targets. Improving in-space transportation capabilities has been recognized as one of the critical enabler for sustainable and affordable space programs in Earth proximity and beyond. Envisioning the presence of future deep space infrastructures, cargo transferring becomes a major issue that can benefit from improvements in in-space propulsion technology. Electric propulsion could represent the turning point, thanks to the combination of new system architectures and technology advancements, e.g. cluster architecture and magnetic shielding, and improved capability of on-board power generation. High-power Hall Thrusters are considered the most promising solution for future space exploration, thanks to a favourable thrust to power ratio, higher than Gridded Ion Engines. Reusable platforms, based on Hall Thrusters, could represent a valid alternative to chemical-propelled spacecraft. These systems could be exploited to support human presence in deep space, delivering life support items and providing on-orbit servicing capabilities. In this paper, the typical mission analysis tools have been exploited to analyse the selected scenarios. The analysis highlights possible advantages achievable adopting high-power Hall Thrusters on board reusable platforms. Since the design of these spacecraft envisions the adoption of a 20 kW-class Hall Thruster string, the mass and power budgets are obtained for those subsystems that are most affected by this critical technology. Then, the feasibility of each scenario is assessed considering the needs defined not only by the traffic plan, in terms of loading/unloading cargo and transfer duration, but also by the peculiar mission and physical constraints. Last, the different platform design solutions are compared with respect to their electric propulsion configurations, in order to identify the possible commonalities in terms of architecture and technology, in line with the current trend of modularity and affordability.

中文翻译：

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20kW级霍尔推进器增强深空运输

摘要 深空是人类探索的新前沿，月球和火星被确定为基本目标。提高太空运输能力已被公认为是在地球附近及更远地区实现可持续和负担得起的太空计划的关键推动因素之一。设想未来深空基础设施的存在，货物转移成为一个主要问题，可以从空间推进技术的改进中受益。由于新的系统架构和技术进步的结合，例如集群架构和磁屏蔽，以及车载发电能力的提高，电力推进可能是一个转折点。大功率霍尔推进器被认为是未来太空探索最有前途的解决方案，这要归功于有利的推力比，高于网格离子引擎。基于霍尔推进器的可重复使用平台可以代表化学推进航天器的有效替代品。这些系统可用于支持人类在深空的存在，提供生命支持项目并提供在轨服务能力。在本文中，已利用典型的任务分析工具来分析选定的场景。分析强调了在可重复使用的平台上采用大功率霍尔推进器可能实现的优势。由于这些航天器的设计设想采用 20 kW 级霍尔推进器串，因此获得了受这一关键技术影响最大的子系统的质量和功率预算。然后，评估每个场景的可行性，不仅要考虑交通计划所定义的需求，在装卸货物和中转时间方面，也受到特殊任务和物理限制。最后，比较不同平台设计解决方案的电力推进配置，以确定在架构和技术方面可能的共性，符合当前模块化和可负担性的趋势。