Microthruster ion drive gives tiny satellites a boost
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Two microthrusters being prepared for testing (Photo: MIT)
Magnetically levitated satellite testbed (Photo: MIT)
Paulo Lozano, associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics and associate director of the Space Propulsion Laboratory at MIT (Photo: MIT)
The different components that make up the MIT microthruster (Photo: MIT)
The test rig simulating microgravity for testing microthrusters (Photo: MIT)
Article Summary
Small-scale satellites show a lot promise, but unless they have equally small-scale thrusters they’re pretty limited in what they can do. Unfortunately conventional thrusters are heavy and take up a lot of valuable space, but a penny-sized rocket engine developed at MIT holds the prospect of not only increasing the capabilities of miniature satellites, but of combating space junk as well.
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