Abstract: A starter circuit particularly suitable for a plasma of an ion engine for a spacecraft includes a power supply having an output inductor with a tap. A switch is coupled to the tap. The switch has a control input. A pulse control logic circuit is coupled to said control input, said pulse control logic circuit controlling said switch to an off state to generate a high voltage discharge.

Abstract: A starter circuit particularly suitable for a plasma of an ion engine for a spacecraft includes a power supply having an output inductor with a tap. A switch is coupled to the tap. The switch has a control input. A pulse control logic circuit is coupled to said control input) said pulse control logic circuit controlling said switch to an off state to generate a high voltage discharge.

Abstract: A starter circuit particularly suitable for a plasma of an ion engine for a spacecraft includes a power supply having an output inductor with a tap. A switch is coupled to the tap. The switch has a control input. A pulse control logic circuit is coupled to said control input, said pulse control logic circuit controlling said switch to an off state to generate a high voltage discharge.

Abstract: A power supply circuit for an ion engine suitable for a spacecraft is coupled to a bus having a bus input and a bus return. The power supply circuit has a first primary winding of a first transformer. An upper inverter circuit is coupled to the bus input and the first primary winding. The power supply circuit further includes a first lower inverter circuit coupled to the bus return and the first primary winding. The second primary winding of a second transformer is coupled to the upper inverter circuit. A second lower inverter circuit is coupled to the bus return and the second primary winding.

Abstract: A power supply circuit for an ion engine suitable for a spacecraft has a voltage bus having input line and a return line. The power supply circuit includes a pulse width modulation circuit. A plurality of bridge inverter circuits is coupled to the bus and the pulse width modulation circuit. The pulse width modulation circuit generates operating signals having a variable duty cycle. Each bridge inverter has a primary winding and a secondary winding. Each secondary winding is coupled to a rectifier bridge. Each secondary winding is coupled in series with another of the plurality of rectifier bridges.

Abstract: An unregulated D.C. input voltage (V.sub.IN) is processed by a high power chopper (34,36) to produce a first chopped signal having the same voltage as the input (V.sub.IN), and by a low power chopper (56,58) to produce a second chopped signal in synchronism with and having a lower voltage than the first chopped signal. The first and second chopped signals are algebraically combined by transformers (52,54) to produce an A.C. output signal which may be converted to D.C. (V.sub.OUT). The second chopped signal may be controlled to have the same polarity relative to the first chopped signal in which case the voltages add to increase the output voltage (V.sub.OUT), or to have the opposite polarity relative to the first chopped signal in which case the voltages subtract to decrease the output voltage (V.sub.OUT). The periods of addition and subtraction are alternated within the period of the first chopped signal.

Abstract: Regulation of an AC or DC voltage is achieved by processing a major portion of the prime power through a square wave inverter and a small portion of the prime power through a pulse width modulated switching regulator. The methods of regulation generally comprises the steps of: processing the unregulated input voltage to provide an output voltage; regulating an unregulated portion of the input voltage in response to a feedback signal indicative of the output voltage to provide a regulating voltage; and combining the regulating voltage with the output voltage to generate a regulated output voltage. The regulator circuit includes a square wave inverter circuit that produces a voltage in an output transformer, while a pulse width modulator regulates the output voltage in response to a feedback signal.