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 ...

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

Things have changed in the past decade, with researchers testing different methods of propulsion. Take Orbion Space Technology, for example. They supply NASA with ion thrusters, and they are a ...

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.

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 ...

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 ...

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.