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Ad Astra Rocket Company has been selected by NASA as one of the winners of the space agency’s Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP)...
Ad Astra’s winning proposal was one of three selected in the field of advanced electric propulsion. Under this work, valued at approximately $10 million over three years, the partnership will advance the VASIMR® engine to a technology readiness level (TRL) greater than 5 – a step closer to spaceflight – with a demonstration of the VX-200-SS™ laboratory prototype, a fully integrated system capable of operating at high power continuously for a minimum of 100 hours.
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In addition to the Mars mission, one of the potential uses is to help keep the ISS in stable orbit. Today, they have to haul up fuel for short duration burns to lift the station out of the naturally decaying orbit. This puts the station under stress during the burn - something an Ion engine would do constantly and gently.