December 2014
Asteroid Redirect Mission: preparing for Mars in deep space
... number of new space technologies to extend human spaceflight beyond LEO. One of these is the use of advanced solar electric propulsion (SEP) to carry the spacecraft out to one of several candidate asteroids. Two primary mission options are currently...
02 August 2017
First iodine fuelled thrusters pass critical design tests
... first of its kind iodine fuelled solar electric propulsion system designed by Busek Co. Inc... an entirely new range of small spacecraft mission. Electric propulsion (EP) systems have the appealing factor of providing exceptional propellant ...
October 2016
Unlocking the potential of annular ion engines
...HET (Hall Effect Rocket with Magnetic Shielding, or HERMeS) under co-development by NASA and JPL for the Solar Electric Propulsion Technology Demonstration Mission (SEP TDM) project [6] have superior performance as compared to all other EP technology...
January 2017
Blueprint for NASA’s journey to Mars
... Orion for EM-4, the prototype assembly platform will be delivered by solar electric propulsion. The Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) will also be demonstrating solar electric propulsion (SEP) capability to transport large masses in deep space in this...
19 August 2019
Maxar selected to build, fly first element of NASA’s Lunar Gateway
...lunar orbits over its lifetime to maximize NASA’s science and exploration operations. Maxar’s extensive experience with solar electric propulsion includes 36 spacecraft on-orbit today and more than 100,000 hours of firing time. A key element of Maxar...
November 2018
BepiColombo – a mission to explore Mercury
...Venus and Mercury, in combination with the thrust provided by the Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) - which is powered by a solar electric propulsion system - to reach its destination. The spacecraft will have a 7.2-year cruise, with one Earth flyby, two...
