RF Generator of the Power Propulsion Unit

To convert the DC electrical power from the spacecraft into the high DC voltage levels and the high frequency AC voltage required to operate the ion thruster, a power processing unit (PPU) is used. One of the components of the PPU is the radio frequency generator (RFG), which is used to ionize the propellant allowing to control the thrust. The RFG architecture is shown in the following figure, where a DC/DC stage controls the power and the DC/AC stage is resonant inverter that synchronizes with the load’s frequency and phase to ensure a high efficiency power transfer.