#ElectricPropulsion uses up to 90% less 📉 propellant than traditional, high-thrust chemical rockets. During tests, the #NASA JPL team achieved power levels of up to 120 kilowatts. That’s over 25 times 📈 the power of the thrusters on Psyche. The team aims to reach power levels between 500 kilowatts and 1 megawatt per thruster. A human 🧑‍🚀 mission to #Mars might need 2 to 4 megawatts of power, requiring multiple MPD thrusters https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-fires-up-powerful-lithium-fed-thruster-for-trips-to-mars/

#RocketScience #SpacecraftPropulsion

#NASA will launch the #SpaceReactor1 Freedom, the first nuclear ☢️ powered #interplanetary spacecraft, to #Mars 🔴 before the end of 📆 2028. Nuclear #ElectricPropulsion enables high power missions beyond #Jupiter 🪐 where #solar arrays are not effective https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-unveils-initiatives-to-achieve-americas-national-space-policy/

#SpacecraftPropulsion #SR1

#GeneralGalactic’s water 💧 propulsion system could provide 5-10 times the Delta-V of traditional systems. For #chemical propulsion, it will use electrolysis to split water, then burn the hydrogen with oxygen as the oxidizer. For #electrical propulsion, it will split water and then apply sufficient electrical energy 🔋 to convert the oxygen into plasma. It will then use a #magnetic field to guide the plasma out of a thruster https://interestingengineering.com/space/satellite-using-water-powered-propulsion-system

#SpacecraftPropulsion #ElectricPropulsion