Inspired by NASA aerospace engineering, this project features a plasma thruster, designed to maximize efficiency and increase ...

Getting that fuel into orbit is costly, too! Ion thrusters, in their various forms, offer an alternative solution – miniscule thrust, but high fuel efficiency. This tiny push won’t get you off ...

Ion thrusters are the most common primary engine powering satellites through orbital maneuvers today. But to travel from ...

When [Jay Bowles] demoed his first-generation ion thruster on Plasma Channel, the resulting video picked up millions of views and got hobbyists and professionals alike talking. While ionic lifters ...

P redicting the lifetime of an electric ion thruster is notoriously difficult. You have to account for the chamber wall effects, which are not present in space environments. Researchers within ...

A UK startup has unveiled a new fusion-powered space rocket concept called Sunbird for interplanetary travel to Mars — and beyond.

Unlike most interplanetary probes, Dawn is not propelled by a chemical rocket engine, but by a solar-electric ion propulsion system, particularly suitable for long-distance flights. This innovative ...

Hollow cathodes are used as part of both Hall effect and gridded ion thrusters, which are some of the most common forms of electric propulsion in use today. The operation of hollow cathodes, despite ...

thrusters generate low thrust via the electrostatic extraction of charged species from an electrified liquid. These systems are characterized by the propellant used and emission mode of the ion beam.

The DLR-Institute of Aerodynamics and Flow Technology performs a lifetime qualification test of ArianeGroup’s radio frequency gridded ion thruster RIT2x in the Electric Space Propulsion Test Facility ...