• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.76-86
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• 2008

The EP(electric propulsion) is unique in that several energy sources can be utilized to produce the electric energy and that high exhaust velocity can be achieved compared to the conventional chemical propulsion. Though a lot of variety of non chemical propulsion are under study, the fact that the EP's specific impulse ranges widely from 200s to 5000s led most research to concentrate on the electric propulsion research. This paper, therefore, is aimed to introduce the up-todate existing EP family such as electrothermal, electrostatic and electromagnetic thrusters where its operating concepts, characteristics and possible variants are presented for future applications.