Can ion thrusters be used on Earth?
Fusion designs like Bussard’s Quiet Electric Dischard engine use ions to heat propellant, but the propellant will just come out as hot non-ionised gas if you want to generate enough thrust to take off from a planet. So, yeah. Ion engines, not great in an atmosphere. Ion propulsion is not of value for missions that require high acceleration, and it often will not be worthwhile for missions that can be done quickly using conventional propulsion systems (such as missions to the moon).Ion thrusters and plasma propulsion systems rank high in terms of their efficiency, according to the study. Ion thrusters, for instance, boast specific impulse values as high as 6,000 seconds — nearly 20 times that of chemical rockets.
Does NASA use ion thrusters?
Ion thrusters (based on a NASA design) are now being used to keep over 100 geosynchronous Earth orbit communication satellites in their desired locations, and three NSTAR ion thrusters that utilize Glenn-developed technology are enabling the Dawn spacecraft (launched in 2007) to travel deep into our solar system. The Starlink ion thruster is a marvel of engineering. The lower box is one the earliest spacecraft ion thrusters (from EOS circa 1962), and on top is a new arrival, a modern marvel from the SpaceX Starlink satellites used for on orbit maneuvering.
Why are ion thrusters so weak?
Given the practical weight of suitable power sources, the acceleration from an ion thruster is frequently less than one-thousandth of standard gravity. However, since they operate as electric (or electrostatic) motors, they convert a greater fraction of input power into kinetic exhaust power. The drawback of the low thrust is low acceleration because the mass of the electric power unit directly correlates with the amount of power. This low thrust makes ion thrusters unsuited for launching spacecraft into orbit, but effective for in-space propulsion over longer periods of time.