While chemical rockets penned the opening pages of the story of human spaceflight, countries around the world are eager to start a new chapter: plasma propulsion. Unlike their chemical forebears, these next-generation rockets are efficient, powerful, and (perhaps most importantly) fast. Sometimes referred to as magnetoplasma rockets (though there are many kinds of concepts and configurations), these engines create thrust by ionizing a propellant and accelerating it using a magnetic field.
Knowing where the wind is blowing, NASA has certainly researched these concepts, even putting some serious money behind both the Pulse Plasma Rocket (as part of its NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts) and the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (being developed by the Ad Astra Rocket Company based in Texas). Today, when timed with Mars’ closest approach to the Earth, chemical rockets take 8 months (on average) to arrive at the Red Planet. By contrast these two NASA-approved concepts promise far more exciting timeframes for a one-way ticket to our planetary neighbor—about 45 to 60 days, respectively. That’s like telling someone who just crossed the Atlantic by boat about a new invention called a jet airplane.
The latest addition to this plasma rocket scrum is the magnetoplasma accelerator from Rosatom’s Troitsk Institute in Moscow, a Russian state corporation that specializes in nuclear energy and other advanced technologies like quantum computers, wind turbines, and yes—plasma thrusters. First unveiled in February of 2025, this magnetoplasma accelerator provides a specific impulse (the acceleration of hydrogen particles) of up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) per second and a power output of 300 kilowatts, which Rosatom describes as “unmatched by any existing technology.” Indian Defence Review reports that 30 to 50 kilometers per second is more common among other engine types.
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