For years, nuclear propulsion sat in the same category as so many ambitious space ideas, impressive on paper, always a few ...

A powerful new electromagnetic thruster has taken a major step forward after a successful high-energy test at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Fueled by lithium vapor and driven by intense magnetic ...

NASA has successfully tested a lithium-fed magnetoplasmadynamic thruster at record U.S. power levels of 120 kilowatts, marking a milestone in electric propulsion. The breakthrough could shorten crewed ...

Earlier this year, rocket scientists at NASA fired up an electromagnetic thruster powered by lithium metal vapor.

Inside a long vacuum chamber in Southern California, a spacecraft engine glowed white-hot as it pushed toward a level of ...

A prototype ion engine that uses lithium vapor as a propellant has aced its first tests, achieving 25 times more power than ...