Promising new electric iodine thruster passes key test in orbit

A new electric thruster that blasts out iodine has now been successfully tested in orbit, a milestone that could help lead to significantly tinier, simpler, cheaper and higher-performance engines for satellites and spacecraft, a new study reports.

Conventional rockets use chemical reactions to drive propulsion. In contrast, electric thrusters produce thrust by using electric power to accelerate propellants such as electrically charged ions away from a spacecraft.



Read original article here

Leave a Comment