Momentus Space promises Orbital Transfer services via microwave heated water plasma drives hooked up to an autonomous navigation & power unit. Essentially they trim the orbit for payloads delivered to LEO via services like the Falcon, Falcon 9 and the Starship.
| VIGORIDE™ | VIGORIDE™ EXTENDED |
|---|---|
| APPLICATIONS | APPLICATIONS |
| LEO orbit raising | Main propulsion for small spacecrafts |
| LEO constellation deployment | Orbit raising from LEO, orbit inclination change |
| SSO orbit plane adjustment | Satellite deorbiting missions |
| De-orbiting | Main thruster for deep space spacecrafts |
| In-space boosters for micro-launchers | |
| SPECS | SPECS |
| Wet Mass (without Payload): 80 kg | Wet Mass (without Payload): 450 kg |
| Maximum Payload Mass: 250 kg | Maximum Payload Mass: 300 kg |
| Total Impulse: >100,000 N-s | Total Impulse: >1,500,000 N-s |
| Maximum ?V: >1 km/s for 50 kg payload | Maximum ?V: >5 km/s for 100 kg payload |
| FERVORIDE™ | VALORIDE™ |
| APPLICATIONS | APPLICATIONS |
| Boosting of large satellites from LEO to GEO | Water delivery from asteroids to cis-lunar space |
| Moon exploration resupply | Water bunkering |
| Deep space missions | Deployment of asteroid mining infrastructure |
| Asteroid mining infrastructure | Moon and Mars exploitation resupply |
| SPECS | SPECS |
| Payload: >10,000kg to GEO | Payload: >100,000 kg |
| ?V: up to 8km/sec | |
| Reusable | Reusable |
| Propulsion: water plasma-powered Fervor™ | Propulsion: water plasma-powered Valor™ |
| Specific impulse: 900 sec | Specific impulse: 1100 sec |
| Solar power: >10kW | Solar power: >100kW |
While I’m not 100% sure of the specific technology a similar concept is the Helicon Thruster – named for the antenna which uses radio-frequency energy to heat water to plasma temperatures, all without actually contacting the super-corrosive ultra-hot steam. Most helicon thrusters encapsulate the “reaction chamber” in a quartz tube.
Electric propulsion is inherently low thrust as the energy in the jet must be supplied by a power source. Solar panels can only be so light and are inherently huge when a long way from the sun.