He continued his studies and completed a doctoral thesis on the ionic propellant.

Xenon is used to search for imaginary large-mass weakly interacting particles, which is a propellant in a new type of spacecraft ion thruster.

Further described are methods of making and using the improved ion thruster components and ion thrusters made therefrom.

Gravity guides a satellite around the planet, with ion drive applying small course corrections.

An electric propulsion machine includes an ion thruster having an annular discharge chamber housing an anode having a large surface area.

The krypton-powered ion thruster sounds like science fiction, but ion thrusters have actually been around for decades.

Propulsion is achieved by accelerating ionized propellant - xenon gas - through a strong electric field, and expelling it at high speed.

NEXT is a solar electric propulsion system where electricity from the spacecraft’s solar panels is used to power a a 7-kW class ion thruster.

The improved positional accuracy enhances the performance and lifetime of ion thrusters which include nonplanar electrodes that are fabricated with this process.

JAXA’s Tsubame satellite carried an ion thruster, powered by electricity and fueled by xenon gas, to counteract the effect of atmospheric drag.