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

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

NASA has successfully tested a magnetoplasmadynamic thruster with lithium propellant. The technology is considered key for ...

NASA has successfully tested a lithium-fed magnetoplasmadynamic thruster at 120 kilowatts, the highest power level for U.S. electric propulsion. The technology, intended for the SR-1 Freedom nuclear ...

NASA has successfully tested a lithium-fed magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) thruster at record power levels of 120 kilowatts, 25 times stronger than the Psyche mission's electric thruster. Conducted at the ...

In 2018, Elon Musk put a Tesla in space. Like many of the billionaire’s antics, it was a publicity stunt. However, it pointed to an undeniable truth: the future of space travel is electric. Most ...

Ion thrusters are an amazing spacecraft propulsion technology, providing very high efficiency with relatively little fuel. Yet getting one to produce more thrust than that required to lift a sheet of ...

Installation of an Ion-X thruster for testing in a vacuum chamber. Credit: Cyril Fresillon C2N Ion-X CNRS Images SAN FRANCISCO – French propulsion startup Ion-X raised 13 million euros ($13.67 million ...

When it comes to space exploration, large vehicles get most of the press -- but a team on KickStarter wants to build an engine that could power nanoscale satellites on their own journeys of ...

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 ...

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 ...

Rockets might be fiery fun, but they’re big, bulky, and heavy. Ion thrusters, sci-fi as they sound, are real and these penny-sized ones are probably the future of steering small satellites in orbit.