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Busek Co. Inc. is engaged in applied research, hardware development and specialty manufacturing in two complementary lines of business: plasma applications and material science. They are a leading developer of advanced electric propulsion thrusters for use on military, government and commercial satellites.
Busek was founded by Dr. Vlad Hruby and incorporated in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1985. Dr. Hruby is a recognized expert in electrostatic propulsion and actively manages Busek as company president and is the chief scientist for the Plasma Technology Group: our center of excellence for propulsion development.
Busek's facilities are located in Natick, MA, approximately 15 miles west of Boston. They have over 15,000 sq. ft. of engineering, laboratory, product assembly and testing facility floor space. Our facilities are specifically designed and fully equipped for the development, test and assembly of sophisticated propulsion hardware and subsystems.
Busek Company, Inc. was awarded SBIR contracts to construct and validate a 200 W Hall Effect Thruster (HET) propulsion system for the Air Force Propulsion Directorate (AFRL/PR). The system Busek developed has an electrical efficiency of approximately 35% at its nominal operating power of 200 W. Typically Hall thrusters operate at higher powers (¡Ý2 kW). Prior to this work, it was deemed impossible to scale down to such low power levels while maintaining a useful efficiency level. This challenge required Busek to innovate and design a new magnetic field configuration as well as a new propellant distribution system within the anode body. These two innovations to the field of electric propulsion resulted in the first demonstration of an efficient low power Hall thruster. This effort was not only technically successful, it also resulted in a successful patent application for Busek.
This low power HET propulsion system developed by Busek recently competed to supply primary propulsion for the TechSat-21 constellation. The TechSat-21 program consists of three satellites, which will be used by the Space Vehicles Directorate (AFRL/VS) to demonstrate satellite formation operations and dispersed aperture sensor arrays. Busek beat a number of competitors by showcasing short pulse Hall thruster operation not previously thought possible. The SBIR sponsored development of the HET system has had a profound impact on the TechSat-21 mission. Return on the initial Air Force investment is significant. The Critical Design Review (CDR) of TechSat-21 has been completed and launch is scheduled for late 2005. TRW has now teamed with Busek to place 200 W HET systems on each spacecraft to provide primary propulsion as well as the fine tune pulses to precisely align the spacecraft payloads.
Judy Budny
Busek Company, Inc.
11 Tech Circle
Natick, MA 01760
Phone: (508) 655-5565
Website: http://www.busek.com/
Email: judy@busek.com
