NASA fires up lithium-fed electric thruster, pushing toward megawatt-scale Mars propulsion
NASA successfully tested a lithium-fed magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) thruster at up to 120 kilowatts—the highest power achieved in U.S. electric propulsion tests—demonstrating the thruster’s viability and laying groundwork for megawatt-class, potentially nuclear-powered propulsion to enable crewed Mars missions; future tests aim to reach 500 kW–1 MW per thruster with multiple units operating for extended durations.