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

GOCE’s sophisticated electric ion propulsion system has been switched on and confirmed to be operating normally, marking another crucial milestone in the satellite’s post-launch commissioning phase.

Electric propulsion is increasingly looking like the technology that will underlie a first attempt to walk on the Red Planet.

NASA's propulsion leap: A lithium plasma thruster reached unprecedented power levels in U.S. testing, potentially enabling faster, more efficient Mars missions. Helion's agile approach: Helion is ...

Aerojet, a GenCorp (NYSE: GY – News) company, and NEC Corporation (TSE: 6701 – News) announced today that the companies will explore the feasibility of jointly supplying low power ion propulsion ...

Recently NASA announced earlier this month that the 12 kW Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) — which is scheduled to form an integral part of the Lunar Gateway when it is launched — has passed ...

Electric space propulsion systems use energized atoms to generate thrust. The high-speed beams of ions bump against the graphite surfaces of the thruster, eroding them with each hit, and are the ...

If we achieve advanced nuclear, antimatter propulsion or other advance propulsion it would be possible to achieve near constant acceleration. This would enable travel times to Mars in the 3-8 day ...

It isn’t so very long ago that electrical propulsion for satellites was a very new kid on the block. Boeing’s Xenon-Ion Propulsion System (XIPS) was introduced on the (then) Hughes 702 versions its ...

NASA scientists are developing a new ion propulsion system that could enable spacecraft to reach unheard-of speeds and undertake long-term explorations of planets in the outer solar system. Dubbed ...

NASA's Dawn spacecraft has returned new images captured on approach to its historic orbit insertion at the dwarf planet Ceres. Dawn will be the first mission to successfully visit a dwarf planet when ...

Plasmoid thrusters have had successful proof of principle experiments done in the lab at Princeton University. The systems should be compact and simple and based upon magnetism present in solar flares ...