Today, rockets heavily rely on chemical propulsion. Deep space probes like Voyager 1 and 2, meanwhile, have used ion propulsion to reach further than any human-made spacecraft. While chemical ...

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 ...

Unlike most interplanetary probes, Dawn is not propelled by a chemical rocket engine, but by a solar-electric ion propulsion system, particularly suitable for long-distance flights. This innovative ...

The AEPS is a solar electric propulsion system that uses xenon as its propellant, much like existing ion engines. Where it differs is in the power output, which should allow it to work as the ...

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 ...

These systems are characterized by the propellant used and emission mode of the ion beam. The most common of these, field emission electric propulsion (FEEP), utilize liquid metals as its ion source ...

The emergence of satellite mega-constellations, such as SpaceX's Starlink and Amazon's Project Kuiper, has opened demand for electric propulsion technologies in the form of ion thrusters and Hall ...