Based on the T5 ion thruster on ESA's Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite that orbited the Earth for four years, the T6s are 22 cm (8.7 in) diameter, 4.5 kW ...

On the face of things, not much, but after seeing [Zachary Tong]’s latest video on liquid metal ion thrusters, we see that they seem to have a lot more in common than we’d initially thought.

And, by some measures, it outperformed a xenon-based thruster by 50 percent. Space-based demo Working hardware was flown on a 12-unit cubesat weighing about 20 kilograms called Beihangkongshi-1.

An ion thruster works to take and remove electrons from a bunch of atoms, turning them into charged "ions." Once there's an even number of negative ions and positive ions, ...

When [Jay Bowles] demoed his first-generation ion thruster on Plasma Channel, the resulting video picked up millions of views and got hobbyists and professionals alike talking. While ionic lifters … ...

A team of researchers has come up with plasma beam that can push space debris out of orbit. Mounted on a satellite, the two-way facing beam is produced by a bespoke ion thruster that uses its ...

New Kickstarter ion thruster would speed space exploration using nanosatellites. When it comes to space exploration, large vehicles get most of the press ...

While commercial ion thrusters are good enough for most LEO satellites, these engines only use “10% or less of a small spacecraft’s initial mass in propellant,” according to NASA.

NASA’s Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, will host a Media Opportunity to showcase an ion thruster prototype on Wed., Jan. 25 at 10 a.m. EST. This prototype was built under NASA’s Evolutionary ...

The propulsion system for NASA's planned moon-orbiting Gateway space station has been undergoing qualification testing at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.