A new design for a plasma engine fuels on only thin air

A new design for a plasma engine fuels on only thin air was developed by Francesco Romano, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Stuttgart. The engine uses atmospheric molecules to generate thrust without relying on expensive gases like xenon. The system, called an RF helicon plasma thruster, is designed to operate in very low Earth orbit (VLEO) where atmospheric drag is significant. Romano tested three intake systems, with the specular intake collecting 94.3% of air particles and maintaining 8% efficiency even when tilted 15°. The thruster uses a birdcage antenna inspired by MRI machines to ensure high efficiency, with a solenoid creating a magnetic field to push plasma out in a quasi-neutral jet. The system was tested in a vacuum chamber with a 1.6 kW power requirement, and it generated steady plasma streams with only 50–60 W of RF power. The engine could operate indefinitely at 190–250 km altitude with less than 1.6 kW of power, making it suitable for spacecraft on Earth and potentially for Mars missions. The design has potential for commercial applications if it can be de-risked and proven to work on an actual mission. The work is published in arXiv with a DOI and is available for review.

AI-generated summary of the original article — see the source for the full story.