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

A powerful new electromagnetic thruster has taken a major step forward after a successful high-energy test at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Fueled by lithium vapor and driven by intense magnetic ...

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

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.

Ion engine leap: NASA's new lithium-fed thruster hit 120 kilowatts, vastly surpassing current ion engines and promising efficient deep-space propulsion. Starship V3 milestone: SpaceX static-fired its ...

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 ...

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

CLEVELAND — A small robotic surveyor arrives to explore a near-Earth asteroid. Another robotic spacecraft is returning to Earth with a pristine comet surface sample. Meanwhile, a robotic explorer is ...

You're on the fourth human mission to Mars, and you're told the Odyssey spacecraft designed to take you there will be the ...

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