A schematic of an gridded electrostatic ion thruster. Wear on the grids over time limits the life of these thrusters. Credit: NASA Electrostatic ion thrusters use a variety of methods to ...

Hollow cathodes are used as part of both Hall effect and gridded ion thrusters, which are some of the most common forms of electric propulsion in use today. The operation of hollow cathodes, despite ...

Hence an electric propulsion system is also referred to as an ion engine. According to Sir Isaac Newton's third law of motion, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The plume of ions ...

Top-Level PPE Conceptual Ion Propulsion System (IPS) Block Diagram. (Credit: NASA) Originally designed since 2015 to propel the AARM mission to fetch rocks from an asteroid, when AARM was ...