A μNewton thrust-stand for LISA

The success of the LISA project depends on the ability of the disturbance reduction system to shield the proof masses from all external forces and to maintain tight pointing requirements relative to the other two spacecrafts. μN-thrusters are required to compensate for the solar radiation pressure acting on the spacecraft. The force noise from these thrusters must be low enough not to disturb the freely floating proof masses. To date, these noise requirements have not been demonstrated, mostly because no thrust-stand exists with sufficient sensitivity. We present the status of our μNewton thrust-stand that will verify that the thrusters proposed for LISA will meet the noise requirements.