A Systems Engineering Assessment of Plasma Assisted Combustion for Reliability Enhancement in Space Propulsion

This paper investigates Plasma Assisted Combustion (PAC) as an incremental technology for enhancing space propulsion system reliability within a systems engineering framework. Given that propulsion accounts for a significant fraction of mission anomalies, PAC is assessed not only for its modest performance gain (~1-3% increase in specific impulse), but for its potential to improve system-level robustness. A conceptual interplanetary mission is analysed using Reliability Block Diagrams and Reliability-Based Design Optimization, incorporating both chemical and electrical subsystems. The key hypothesis is that mass savings enabled by improved efficiency can be reallocated to introduce redundancy in critical components. Results show that PAC-based architectures consistently outperform conventional systems, achieving up to ~20% higher reliability while reducing total mass and eliminating single points of failure in realistic configurations. The findings support PAC should be regarded as a reliability-enabling technology, offering a promising, low-risk pathway for future high-reliability space missions.