LEEP2 is the main chamber for thruster qualification and acceptance testing. The largest section of the chamber is 3.8m diameter x 4m long. The conical section is 0.9m long and the small section is 2.6m diameter x 5m long. Thrusters are located at the junction between the 2.6m and conical sections and the ion beam(s) are directed towards the chamber door/target. This configuration minimises any thruster chamber interactions. The ion beam target is a water-cooled graphite clad design and the walls of the chamber are protected using a stainless steel/graphite liner. LEEP2 characteristics:
- Chamber dimensions: 3.8m diam x 9m long and 2.6m diam x 5m long
- Water-cooled graphite target on chamber door
- Pressure <2 x 104 mbar with xenon flow rates up to 30mg/s
- Pumping capacity equivalent to 100,000 l/s Xenon
- High Xenon flow rates suitable for large Hall-effect thrusters
- Measurements of plume characteristics such as thrust vector and beam divergence
- Thrust balance for real-time thrust measurement
