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 ...

While scientists have toyed with the idea of using AF-MPD thrusters since the 1970s, the Paihau-Robinson team believes it could b ...

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

The AEPS is a solar electric propulsion system that uses xenon as its propellant, much like existing ion engines. Where it differs is in the power output, which should allow it to work as the ...

But in traditional ion engines, sometimes called Hall thrusters, the constant bombardment of energized particles against the back wall of the engine gradually wears it down until the device shorts ...

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 ...

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 ...

A Magdrive Rogue thruster is scheduled to launch on D-Orbit’s ION Satellite Carrier, sent aloft in June. “We want to make sure that flight goes off without a hitch,” Magdrive CEO Mark Stokes ...