Those who watched The Space Between Us would surely have a fresh memory of the plane that Gary Oldman’s character flew from the ground into space. The plane probably used plasma jet engines and they ...

The coming decades of space exploration hinge on a single, stubborn number: the 225 million kilometres between Earth and Mars. Chemical rockets, the workhorses of every space programme to date, take ...

FORGET fuel-powered jet engines. We’re on the verge of having aircraft that can fly from the ground up to the edge of space using air and electricity alone. Traditional jet engines create thrust by ...

A peer-reviewed study modeling Mars transit times for chemical propulsion rockets found that even optimized Starship-class trajectories would still require roughly three months to reach the Red Planet ...

Plasma engines could be the future of human space travel, and Russia’s “manetoplasma rockets” have the most ambitious travel goals ...

A laboratory in Troitsk, Russia, may have just nudged humanity closer to interplanetary commuting. Scientists at Rosatom, the country's state nuclear corporation, have revealed a working prototype of ...

In the relentless quest to make journeys to Mars shorter and safer, Russian scientists have recently turned heads with a bold claim: A plasma-based propulsion system could cut the Earth–Mars transit ...

Something to look forward to: Scientists have created a laboratory prototype of a plasma electric rocket engine that could revolutionize space travel. Based on a magnetic plasma accelerator, this ...

Plasma propulsion transforms an inert propellant – often hydrogen – into plasma, a superheated mix of ions and electrons.

A laboratory prototype of a plasma electric rocket engine based on a magnetic plasma accelerator has been produced by Rosatom scientists, who say it could slash travel time to Mars to one or two ...

The world’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels, especially for transportation, has left a deep mark on both the planet and public health. Burning these fuels releases a flood of greenhouse gases, which ...

Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: While chemical rockets penned the opening pages of the story of human spaceflight, countries around the world are eager to start a new chapter: ...