A prototype ion engine that uses lithium vapor as a propellant has aced its first tests, achieving 25 times more power than ...

American space agency NASA announced the first major test of a new lithium-fed magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) thruster that could ...

NASA has successfully tested a lithium-fed magnetoplasmadynamic thruster reaching 120 kilowatts, 25 times more powerful than its current top ion engine. The breakthrough could drastically cut ...

What do scanning electron microscopes and satellites have in common? On the face of things, not much, but after seeing [Zachary Tong]’s latest video on liquid metal ion thrusters, we see that they ...

Add Futurism (opens in a new tab) More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. China’s ...

Spacecraft rocket engines come in a variety of forms and use a variety of fuels, but most rely on chemical reactions to blast propellants out of a nozzle, with the reaction force driving the ...

Demand for electric propulsion is growing for space applications and the proposed technological solutions are evolving fast. Gridded Ion Technology allows a more efficient management of Xe, providing ...

BepiColombo, the joint ESA/JAXA spacecraft on a mission to Mercury, is now firing its thrusters for the first time in flight. On Sunday, BepiColombo carried out the first successful manoeuver using ...

You don’t see many ionic thrusters out in the world these days. The high-voltage devices are interesting pieces of technology, but they aren’t all that relevant to our normal lives. They’re gradually ...

NASA has successfully tested a 120-kilowatt magnetoplasmadynamic ion thruster, 25 times more powerful than its current top-performing engine. The technology is planned to scale to megawatt levels and ...