On February 24, 2026, inside a vacuum chamber at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, engineers ignited ...

NASA just tested a blazing-hot plasma engine that could help carry humans to Mars.

A powerful new electromagnetic thruster has taken a major step forward after a successful high-energy test at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Fueled by lithium vapor and driven by intense magnetic ...

Earlier this year, rocket scientists at NASA fired up an electromagnetic thruster powered by lithium metal vapor.

For years, nuclear propulsion sat in the same category as so many ambitious space ideas, impressive on paper, always a few ...

Inside a long vacuum chamber in Southern California, a spacecraft engine glowed white-hot as it pushed toward a level of ...

NASA fired up a prototype of its electromagnetic thruster inside a vacuum chamber, reaching power levels of up to 120 ...

A prototype ion engine that uses lithium vapor as a propellant has aced its first tests, achieving 25 times more power than ...

NASA is leading an effort, working with the Department of Energy (DOE), to advance space nuclear technologies. The government team has selected three reactor design concept proposals for a nuclear ...

NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, located nearly 150 million miles from Earth on the way to an unexplored metal asteroid, has stopped firing its engines after detecting a problem in its propulsion system.

Viewed from orbit, Jackass Flats — situated in southern Nevada about 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas — could easily be confused for Mars. The alluvial basin is full of tan and gray regolith, hued ...

On Feb. 24, 2026, inside a vacuum chamber at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, a prototype thruster ...