Electric propulsion

Electric propulsion (EP) is an attractive option for unmanned orbital transfer vehicles (OTV's). Vehicles with solar electric propulsion (SEP) could be used routinely to transport cargo between nodes in Earth, lunar, and Mars orbit. Electric propulsion systems are low-thrust, high-specific-impulse systems with fuel efficiencies 2 to 10 times the efficiencies of systems using chemical propellants. The payoff for this performance can be high, since a principal cost for a space transportation system is that of launching to low Earth orbit (LEO) the propellant required for operations between LEO and other nodes. Several aspects of electric propulsion, including candidate systems and the impact of using nonterrestrial materials, are discussed.