By focusing this energy into a relativistic electron beam, the statite could propel a spacecraft over distances of 100 to ...

Here’s the gist of how it would work: First, you actually need two spacecraft. A probe blasts off on a one-way trip to deep space, while a second vehicle remains locked in an Earth orbit and ...

In other words, all of the work of propulsion is being done on Earth, where the proton beam is based. As a result, the calculations around the probe spacecraft itself become less complex. Think ...

Calculations in the paper show that such a beam could provide power out to 100 or even 1,000 AU, well past the point where any other known propulsion system would be able to have an impact.

More information: Chen Cui et al, Vlasov simulations of electric propulsion beam, Plasma Sources Science and Technology (2024). DOI: 10.1088/1361-6595/ad98c0 Provided by University of Virginia ...

These include NASA’s Nuclear-Thermal or Nuclear-Electric Propulsion (NTP/NEP) concepts that could enable transit times to Mars in 100 days (or even 45) and a nuclear-powered Chinese spacecraft ...

We’re going to be doing pretty special things here. We will be building large electric motors, which are the propulsion system for the next class of submarines for the US Navy. And then ultimately, we ...

This is a big win for space solar power, ... Earth Receives First-Ever Power Beam ... Space Solar Power Project, or SSPP. In collaboration with Indie Semiconductor, Inc., NASA's Jet Propulsion ...

“Beam concepts are unique in that their propulsion capability principally derives from the separation of power and propulsion subsystems from the spacecraft itself,” Limbach wrote, “thereby ...