ion thruster
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The 2.3 kW NSTAR ion thruster developed by NASA for the Deep Space 1 spacecraft during a hot fire test at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (1999) NEXIS ion engine test (2005) A prototype of a xenon ion engine being tested at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (2005)
An ion thruster, ion drive, or ion engine is a form of electric propulsion used for spacecraft propulsion. An ion thruster creates a cloud of positive ions from a neutral gas by ionizing it to extract some electrons from its atoms. The ions are then accelerated using electricity to create thrust. Ion thrusters are categorized as either electrostatic or electromagnetic.