Spacecraft electric propulsion

[4] In the future, the most advanced electric thrusters may be able to impart a delta-v of 100 km/s (62 mi/s), which is enough to take a spacecraft to the outer planets of the Solar System (with nuclear power), but is insufficient for interstellar travel.

[1][5] An electric rocket with an external power source (transmissible through laser on the photovoltaic panels) has a theoretical possibility for interstellar flight.

[13][14] This early work by GDL has been steadily carried on and electric rocket engines were used in the 1960s on board the Voskhod 1 spacecraft and Zond-2 Mars probe.

[15] The first test of electric propulsion was an experimental ion engine carried on board the Soviet Zond 1 spacecraft in April 1964,[16] however they operated erratically possibly due to problems with the probe.

[17] The Zond 2 spacecraft also carried six Pulsed Plasma Thrusters (PPT) that served as actuators of the attitude control system.

[19][21][22] Electrically powered propulsion with a nuclear reactor was considered by Tony Martin for interstellar Project Daedalus in 1973, but the approach was rejected because of its thrust profile, the weight of equipment needed to convert nuclear energy into electricity, and as a result a small acceleration, which would take a century to achieve the desired speed.

Types: The electrothermal category groups devices that use electromagnetic fields to generate a plasma to increase the temperature of the bulk propellant.

[2] A chemical rocket imparts energy to the combustion products directly, whereas an electrical system requires several steps.

However, the high velocity and lower reaction mass expended for the same thrust allows electric rockets to run on less fuel.