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Due to limited electric power the thrust is much weaker compared to chemical rockets, but electric propulsion can provide thrust for a longer time. [2] Electric propulsion was first demonstrated in the 1960s and is now a mature and widely used technology on spacecraft. American and Russian satellites have used electric propulsion for decades. [3]
Falcon 9 Block 5, the most prolific active orbital launch system in the world. This comparison of orbital launch systems lists the attributes of all current and future individual rocket configurations designed to reach orbit. A first list contains rockets that are operational or have attempted an orbital flight attempt as of 2024; a second list ...
Space Electric Rocket Test, suborbital (31 min), the first demonstration of an ion engine in space - only the mercury engine by NASA was operated Program 661A Flight B: 29 Aug 1964: 29 Aug 1964: Ion engine: 1: Cesium: USAF: EOS: Suborbital, experimental test (19 min operation) Zond 2: 30 Nov 1964: 14 May 1965: Pulsed plasma thruster: PTFE ...
As of December 2020, the only rocket engines to use electric propellant pump systems are the Rutherford engine, [2] ten of which power the Electron rocket, [2] and the Delphin engine, five of which power the first stage of Astra Space's Rocket 3. [3] On 21 January 2018, Electron was the first electric pump-fed rocket to reach orbit. [4]
Plasma properties change rapidly across this boundary, which is known as a current-free electric double layer. The electrical potential is much higher inside the source region than in the exhaust and this serves both to confine most of the electrons and to accelerate the ions away from the source region.
Mars Piloted Orbital Station (or Marspost) is a Russian concept for an orbital human mission to Mars, with several proposed configurations, including using a nuclear reactor to run an electric rocket engine. A 30-volume draft proposal was produced in 2005.
Its Rutherford engines are the first electric-pump-fed engine to power an orbital-class rocket. [17] Electron is often flown with a kickstage or Rocket Lab's Photon spacecraft. Although the rocket was designed to be expendable , Rocket Lab has recovered the first stage twice and is working towards the capability of reusing the booster. [ 18 ]
The most distant planets are 4.5–6 billion kilometers from the Sun and to reach them in any reasonable time requires much more capable propulsion systems than conventional chemical rockets. Rapid inner solar system missions with flexible launch dates are difficult, requiring propulsion systems that are beyond today's current state of the art.