Patent ID: 7757476

Claim:
A catalytic decomposition propulsion system, the system comprising, a propellant tank for storing a propellant, the propellant comprising hydroxyl ammonium nitrate, and a decomposition chamber for supporting a catalyst for reacting with the propellant for decomposing the propellant into a gas, and a control valve positioned between the propellant tank and the decomposition chamber for controlling the passage of the propellant to the decomposition chamber, wherein: the control valve has an opened state and a closed state, the control valve passes a first amount of propellant in the opened state during a first time period and passes substantially no propellant in the closed state during a second time period, the control valve is configured to repeatedly transition between the opened state and the closed state such that a majority of the first amount of the propellant passed through the control valve during the first time period decomposes during the second time period.