This paper describes a metal plasma thruster (MPT) that is suited to nano- and microsatellites. The MPT uses solid metal propellant (hence requires no liquids, gases, flow valves, or flow controls), has no moving parts, generates approximately $5000\mathrm{N}·\mathrm{s}/\mathrm{U}$, and may be packaged into $½\text{-}\mathrm{U}$, 1-U, and multiple-U increments. A vacuum arc generates a metal plasma plume that accelerates into space at $6.8\mathrm{km}/\mathrm{s}$ (platinum, Pt) to $30.6\mathrm{km}/\mathrm{s}$ (magnesium, Mg) to generate thrust ($\sim 10\mu \mathrm{N}/\mathrm{W}$). The range of specific impulse is from 693 s (Pt) up to 3119 s (Mg). Spacecraft interface is simple: the autonomous MPT requires only a DC input (7–28 V) and a start/stop control pulse from the satellite. The MPT is simpler and more rugged than ion engines and Hall thrusters, which are not easily scaled down in mass and power for $<100\mathrm{kg}$ satellites, and provides superior total impulse per kilogram. The MPT is easier to operate than equivalent-sized alternatives: field emission electric propulsion thruster, xenon gas radiofrequency thruster, and pulsed plasma thruster.

本文介绍了适用于纳米和微卫星的金属等离子推进器（MPT）。MPT使用固体金属推进剂（因此不需要液体，气体，流量阀或流量控制器），没有活动部件，可产生大约$5000\mathrm{ñ}·\mathrm{s}/\mathrm{ü}$，并且可以打包成 $½\text{--}\mathrm{ü}$，1-U和多U增量。真空电弧产生金属等离子羽流，并加速进入太空$6.8\mathrm{公里}/\mathrm{s}$ （铂，铂）到 $30.6\mathrm{公里}/\mathrm{s}$ （镁，镁）产生推力（$〜10\mu \mathrm{ñ}/\mathrm{w\; ^}$）。比脉冲的范围从693 s（Pt）到3119 s（Mg）。航天器接口很简单：自主MPT仅需要一个DC输入（7–28 V）和来自卫星的启动/停止控制脉冲。MPT比离子发动机和霍尔推力器更简单，更坚固，而离子发动机和霍尔推力器不容易按比例缩小质量和功率，$<100\mathrm{公斤}$卫星，并提供每千克出色的总脉冲。MPT比同等尺寸的替代产品更易于操作：场发射电动推进器，氙气射频推进器和脉冲等离子推进器。