🚀 Towards Mars and beyond: a new ion engine 25 times more powerful successfully tested

A new era for space propulsion? An ion engine twenty-five times more powerful than NASA's current best model has just been successfully tested in the laboratory. This technology, which combines electromagnetic fields and vaporized lithium, could one day take astronauts relatively quickly to Mars.

Ion engines work very differently from conventional chemical thrusters. Instead of burning fuel, they use electric fields to accelerate charged particles, thereby creating thrust. Although slow at first, this thrust gradually builds up to reach high speeds. Above all, these engines consume 90% less fuel, which lightens spacecraft and reduces launch costs.


The tested prototype is a lithium-fueled magnetoplasmadynamic thruster. It generates powerful electric currents that interact with a magnetic field to accelerate lithium ions. This new engine, installed in a 26-foot (8-meter) vacuum chamber, performed five test firings on February 24, reaching 120 kilowatts of power. That is twenty-five times the power of the ion engine on the Psyche mission, previously the most powerful. Additionally, lithium readily condenses on the vacuum chamber walls, simplifying ground testing.

"This is the first time in the United States that an electric propulsion system has operated at such high power levels," said Jared Isaacman, NASA administrator. Following this, the JPL team is now targeting a power range between 500 kilowatts and one megawatt in the coming years, with a final goal of four megawatts. Several such engines could then propel a crewed spacecraft to the Red Planet.

Until now, missions using ion engines have drawn their energy from the Sun via solar panels. But this method has two drawbacks: it does not allow operations far from the Sun, and the power produced remains limited without gigantic panels. That is why NASA is developing a space nuclear propulsion project, Space Reactor‑1 Freedom, which will carry a small fission reactor to provide more energy.

This nuclear reactor is expected to launch in late 2028, carrying a flotilla of mini-drones to Mars. Although Space Reactor‑1 Freedom currently uses a conventional xenon ion engine, the idea is to eventually combine this nuclear power source with the new lithium thrusters. This synergy could give rise to the engines capable of taking the first humans to Mars.

Ion engines have existed since the 1960s, but it was only with the Deep Space 1 mission in 1998 that they were employed beyond Earth orbit. Since then, they have propelled missions like Dawn to Ceres and Vesta, Hayabusa 2, DART, SMART‑1, and BepiColombo. With the development of nuclear propulsion and the new lithium ion engine, this technology could take a giant leap forward.