Propellant

Several experiments have shown that the EMDrive can generate thrust from basically nothing – in apparent violation of Newton’s Laws of Motion. Unfortunately, a German team has now built and tested their own EMDrive, and found that environmental factors may have been responsible for false positives.

Scientists at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) and the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid have come up with a propellantless propulsion system that also doubles as an electric generator by using the Earth's magnetic field interacting with a 2-km long aluminum tether.

A new study out of MIT says that, although possibly a little out of the way, the Moon would make a worthwhile refueling pit stop for manned missions to Mars by reducing the mass of a launch from Earth by 68 percent.

NASA has successfully completed the first of two tests designed to certify the massive solid fuel boosters which will form a part of NASA's next generation Space Launch System (SLS). Once completed, SLS will represent the most powerful launch vehicle ever constructed.

Firefly Space Systems recently unveiled its planned Alpha launcher aimed at the small satellite launch market. It is designed to launch satellites into low-Earth orbit at very low cost with an unconventional aerospike engine. It is also the first orbital launcher to use methane as fuel.

Getting into space is an expensive business where every little bit of extra weight can add thousands of dollars to the cost of a mission. A team of researchers at MIT proposes establishing gas stations in space as a possible way to help cut the cost of future missions to the Moon.

Moon Express has revealed the design of its MX-1 entry for the Google Lunar X Prize competition. Not a one-trick pony, the MX-1 is intended as the first of a series of robotic spacecraft that can carry out a multitude of tasks in Earth orbit as well as in deep space.

Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, says that the missions to Mars by his company will use rockets powered by methane.

NASA has put out the call for greener propellant fuel to replace hydrazine on the spacecraft of the future

The ANYWAY Spray is a tube that allows people to use spray bottles at any angle, right down to the last drop.

Scientists are creating a dual fuel rocket for use on Mars missions, that would burn CO2 and create carbon, making it carbon negative.

A new type of propellant made of a mixture of water and “nanoscale aluminum” powder could provide a more environmentally friendly way to launch rockets into orbit.