A High-Power High-Voltage DC-DC Converter for Space Applications

The design details of a modular dc-dc converter used to power the main anode supply of a mercury-iron motor are presented. This motor, the RIT-35 built by Messerschmitt-BölkowBlohm (MBB), Germany, is used as the propulsion unit of a future Asteroid Gravity Optical and Radar Analysis (AGORA) mission. The design selected to cope with the high-voltage high-power conversion for space applications is shown, as well as the requirement to operate from an unregulated solar array with a voltage excursion of from 150 V at beginning-of-mission (BOM) to 240 V at end-of-mission (EOM).