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The propellant, such as xenon gas, is fed through the anode, which has numerous small holes in it to act as a gas distributor. As the neutral xenon atoms diffuse into the channel of the thruster, they are ionized by collisions with circulating high-energy electrons (typically 10–40 eV, or about 10% of the discharge voltage).
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]
Neutral gas is first ionized by electromagnetic waves and then transferred to another chamber where it is accelerated by an oscillating electric and magnetic field, also known as the ponderomotive force. This separation of the ionization and acceleration stages allows throttling of propellant flow, which then changes the thrust magnitude and ...
Direct Fusion Drive (DFD) is a conceptual, low radioactivity, nuclear-fusion rocket engine, designed to produce both thrust and electric power, suitable for interplanetary spacecraft. The concept is based on the Princeton field-reversed configuration reactor , invented in 2002 by Samuel A. Cohen.
A resistojet is a method of spacecraft propulsion (electric propulsion) that provides thrust by heating a typically non-reactive fluid.Heating is usually achieved by sending electricity through a resistor consisting of a hot incandescent filament, with the expanded gas expelled through a conventional nozzle.
Atmosphere-breathing electric propulsion, or air-breathing electric propulsion, shortly ABEP, [1] is a propulsion technology for spacecraft, which could allow thrust generation in low orbits without the need of on-board propellant, by using residual gases in the atmosphere as propellant. Atmosphere-breathing electric propulsion could make a new ...
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For rocket-like propulsion systems, this is a function of mass fraction and exhaust velocity; mass fraction for rocket-like systems is usually limited by propulsion system weight and tankage weight. [ citation needed ] For a system to achieve this limit, the payload may need to be a negligible percentage of the vehicle, and so the practical ...