Ion propulsion

Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Advanced Electric Propulsion System thruster demonstrates full power operation at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California

Space

Advanced Electric Propulsion System passes full-power test milestone

Aerojet Rocketdyne and NASA's Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) thruster that will be used on NASA's Gateway orbiting lunar outpost has passed a major milestone, completing its first full-power test, running at 12.5 kW.

Space

Salt-based propellant may lead to dual-mode rockets

Researchers are studying how to use salt-based propellants that can be used to power dual-mode rockets that work as both combustion and ion engines.

The X3 thruster being tested at the NASA Glenn Research Center, firing at 50 kilowatts

Space

NASA's X3 ion thruster smashes records in test firings

On the road to getting humans to Mars, engineers from NASA and the University of Michigan have successfully tested the X3, a thruster designed to get us to Mars. And it’s broken several records in the process.

Ferrofluids can not only act as a fuel source, they can create part of the engine on the fly as well

Materials

Ion-emitting ferrofluid spikes could propel small satellites

Orbiting satellites are mostly propelled by gravity. But electrospray propulsion is sometimes used to reposition them. The fine nozzles in such systems are notoriously prone to breakage though, so researchers developed a way to create them out of their own fuel source, making them self-healing.