A new thruster at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California just reached power levels higher than any electric propulsion system ever tested in the United States. The experimental engine, fueled by lithium vapor and driven by magnetic forces, hit 120 kilowatts inside a vacuum chamber on February 24. If scaled up, this technology could one day push a crewed spacecraft to Mars.
Hotter than molten lava inside a vacuum chamber
During five ignition cycles, the thruster's central tungsten electrode glowed white hot at temperatures above 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. That is hotter than molten lava. The test took place inside JPL's Electric Propulsion Lab, a specialized facility built to handle engines that use metal vapor propellants at extreme power. Engineers ran the thruster at record levels, far beyond anything currently flying on NASA spacecraft.
How a lithium engine could change deep space travel
Electric propulsion systems are far more efficient than chemical rockets, using up to 90 percent less propellant. Instead of a single powerful blast, they produce a steady, gentle push over months or years, gradually accelerating a spacecraft to very high speeds. NASA's Psyche mission already uses solar powered electric thrusters to reach 124,000 miles per hour. The new engine is a lithium fed magnetoplasmadynamic thruster, or MPD. The concept dates back to the 1960s but has never been used operationally. This design uses strong electrical currents and magnetic fields to accelerate plasma made from lithium, generating more thrust at higher power than existing systems.
Why this test matters for the people who will fly to Mars
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the successful test demonstrates real progress toward sending an American astronaut to the Red Planet. The agency plans a series of upcoming experiments to refine and scale the technology. Local engineers and space enthusiasts in Southern California have followed the work closely, knowing that the hardware being tested in Pasadena could one day power robotic missions across the solar system and carry humans beyond the Moon. The thruster remains experimental, but the February test proved that a lithium MPD engine can operate at power levels no American electric propulsion system has reached before.
