Ion propulsion

Artist's concept of the JETSON spacecraft

Astronomy

Lockheed Martin tapped to build nuclear-powered deep-space probe

Under a US$33.7-million Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) contract, Lockheed Martin is developing a next-generation nuclear-reactor-powered spacecraft for the Joint Emergent Technology Supplying On-Orbit Nuclear (JETSON) High Power program.

A concept image of the levitating lunar rover

Astronomy

MIT-designed "flying saucer" may one day hover its way across the Moon

Although we may think of flying saucers as craft used by aliens in movies, MIT scientists are now proposing utilizing one of their own to explore the Moon. The vehicle would hover above the lunar surface via the force of electrostatic repulsion.

Astronomy

Satellite fires up iodine-fueled ion thruster for the first time

In a development that could help slow the proliferation of space junk, the orbit of a communications satellite has for the first time been altered using solid iodine as a propellant.

Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Advanced Electric Propulsion System thruster demonstrates full power operation at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California

Astronomy

Advanced Electric Propulsion System passes full-power test milestone

Aerojet Rocketdyne and NASA's Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) thruster that will be used on NASA's Gateway orbiting lunar outpost has passed a major milestone, completing its first full-power test, running at 12.5 kW.

The X3 thruster being tested at the NASA Glenn Research Center, firing at 50 kilowatts

Astronomy

NASA's X3 ion thruster smashes records in test firings

On the road to getting humans to Mars, engineers from NASA and the University of Michigan have successfully tested the X3, a thruster designed to get us to Mars. And it’s broken several records in the process.