A team from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, joined by university students, recently traveled to The ...

NASA and DARPA are developing a demonstration nuclear-powered rocket that could shorten travel time to Mars and make space ...

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 ...

When it comes to crossing these great distances, conventional chemical rocket technology simply doesn’t cut the mustard. As it turns out though, lasers could hold the key to cutting down travel ...

This technology offers advantages over traditional chemical rockets, which are limited by the physical constraints of combustion. Traditional engines reach material flow speeds of only 4.5 km/s.

Since electrospray engines utilize propellant more efficiently than the powerful, chemical rockets used on the launchpad, they are better suited for precise, in-orbit maneuvers. The thrust ...

By utilizing strong electromagnetic forces to accelerate an ionized plasma propellant, electric thrusters take advantage of on-orbit solar power generation to enjoy significant fuel savings over ...