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.