After 5 months of Electric Propulsion pause, SMART-1's ion engine was nominally restarted as planned on 2 August. The EP power is being set to 1325W due to the Sun distance seasonal effect.
The critical point of 1.8 Kg of Xenon will be achieved during the first week of September when special procedures will be implemented. The tests done with the simulator have predicted a transition to under-regulated thrust at a remaining xenon level of 0.73 to 0.78 kg (depending upon temperature).
The EP operations are planned to last until mid September assuming simulator behaviour. The second half of September has been reserved for possible special operations in case the engine does not behave as expected.
Future Activities
EP orbit re-boost operation in August and September
Start work for next phase of ground automation activities
SMART-1 Presentations in international conferences:
Spacecraft Status
