Satellite Engine Could Breathe Earth's Atmosphere to Stay in Orbit Forever
New Satellite Engine Could Use Earth's Atmosphere to Stay in Orbit Indefinitely
Francesco Romano's PhD research at the University of Stuttgart proposes an atmosphere-breathing electric propulsion system that uses the thin air in very low Earth orbit as fuel. His RF helicon plasma thruster, with a specular intake that captures 94.3% of particles, needs no neutralizer and runs on 50-60W. Models suggest it could keep satellites aloft indefinitely between 190-250 km, and even above Mars.
The clear winner, both in terms of collection efficiency and alignment sensitivity, was the specular intake.