Posted on 08/07/2025 11:00:04 AM PDT by Red Badger
Russian scientists say they’ve built a new kind of engine that could cut the trip to Mars down to just one month. A working prototype already exists, and it’s unlike anything currently used in space.
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Russia’s New Plasma Engine. Credit: IZVESTIA/Sergey Lantyukhov | The Daily Galaxy --Great Discoveries Channel
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A new propulsion system developed by Russian scientists is generating buzz in the spaceflight community. According to researchers from Rosatom’s Troitsk Institute, a laboratory-tested magnetoplasma engine could make it possible to travel from Earth to Mars in as little as one to two months—a significant leap from today’s six- to nine-month missions.
Continuous Acceleration, Not Combustion
At the center of this technology is a plasma propulsion system that abandons conventional fuel combustion. Instead, it uses electromagnetic fields to accelerate hydrogen ions—charged particles like protons and electrons—to speeds of 100 kilometers per second (about 360,000 km/h). For comparison, most chemical rockets top out at around 4.5 km/s due to fuel burn limitations.
“The working body is charged particles that are accelerated by an electromagnetic field. This makes it possible to achieve much higher speeds,” said Alexei Voronov, first deputy general director for science at the Troitsk Institute, speaking to Izvestia.
Magnetoplasma Propulsion System - Image Credit: IZVESTIA/Sergey Lantyukhov
This kind of engine works on continuous thrust. Unlike current rockets that provide an initial push and then coast, this plasma engine keeps accelerating steadily. That means shorter travel times and less time spent in deep space radiation—a major concern for long-duration crewed missions.
Built and Already Being Tested
What makes this project different from others in development is that a working prototype already exists. Researchers have constructed a test unit and are running it inside a massive vacuum chamber—4 meters wide and 14 meters long—that mimics outer space conditions. The engine operates in a pulse-periodic mode, running at 300 kilowatts of power.
The current system has shown an operational lifespan of 2,400 hours, enough for a round trip to Mars under the proposed design. “The main goal of the project is to demonstrate the operation of the prototype in pulse-periodic mode,” said Konstantin Gutorov, the project’s scientific advisor.
Magnetoplasma Propulsion System - Image Credit: IZVESTIA/Sergey Lantyukhov
A space-ready version is planned for release in 2030, and will not replace traditional launch vehicles. Instead, it would kick in after the spacecraft reaches orbit, allowing the plasma engine to handle the journey through interplanetary space.
Hydrogen: Abundant, Light, and Efficient
The choice of hydrogen as a fuel source is intentional. It’s the lightest and most abundant element in the universe, allowing for high acceleration with minimal consumption. More importantly, the design doesn’t require high plasma temperatures, reducing heat stress on engine parts and improving longevity.
The engine’s 6 newtons of thrust may not sound like much, but it’s actually the highest among plasma-based propulsion projects currently in development. That’s because plasma engines prioritize efficiency over brute force, trading raw power for steady, long-term acceleration and deceleration—essential for interplanetary missions.
Magnetoplasma Propulsion System - Image Credit: IZVESTIA/Sergey Lantyukhov
Power for the engine would likely come from a nuclear reactor onboard the spacecraft, which introduces some engineering and safety challenges, but also provides the sustained energy needed for continuous operation.
How It Stacks up Against Today’s Tech
Plasma propulsion isn’t new. Russian plasma thrusters are already used in systems like the OneWeb satellite constellation and NASA’s Psyche probe. Those engines typically achieve particle exhaust speeds of 10 to 50 km/s. The new engine claims to double that range, placing it far ahead of current technology, if the results can be independently verified.
“This development is ahead of the curve,” said Nathan Eismont of the Russian Academy of Sciences, who emphasized that Russian-made plasma engines are already flying on international missions.
Of course, this doesn’t mean a Mars trip is right around the corner. The system hasn’t been reviewed in independent scientific journals, and its integration into a complete space mission has yet to be demonstrated. But the prototype’s existence and ongoing testing signal real momentum, not just theoretical speculation.
When did Putin get reclassified as a scientist?
Mars has a fairly thick atmosphere you can aerobrake with heat shields to shed velocity and even plane change with biconic lifting entry bodies. You can also use ballutes to aerobrake at very high speeds way up in the thin parts of the Martian thermosphere no heat shield needed them as the heat loads are an over of magnitude lower you end up making a initial fly by grab some drag to go into a very high elliptical capture orbit then graze multiple more times every time your on the inbound leg of the ellipse pulling you more and more into the gravity well.
You could also go plasma magnetoshell and inflate a huge plasma bubble around your vehicle that plows trough the upper atmosphere on any of planet’s that have gases around them(Venus,Earth,Mars,Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,Neptune, even Pluto has an atmosphere that with a large enough plasma bubble you can get some serious drag on.
I’m hoping that they did actually develop it, but let’s wait til they actually send it to Mars. That would be cool!
I understand. I’m just saying Russians were not the only ones doing science and space. Ukraine was also.
If the war was to stop, God willing, you could have a tech partnership between them, instead of brutish subjugation.
Who says he’s not?
I think he’s made more progress in ten years than any other entity in space. Now, I do believe he will go towards the most efficient propulsion system, once he can get a Star Ship launched without it blowing up.
And I say that not as an insult to SpaceX, but every launch is that much closer than the last, and they’re learning.
The US has several plasma engine prototypes - the Russian entry is not world shaking news - mainly because the country is going broke and unlikely to get their entry beyond the current stage.
Solar panels in space can be thin film and very light weight. They also can be triple bandgap cells that have access to light frequencies and intensity not available under the atmosphere. Specifically high-energy UV rays and most of the longer IR spectrum too. Space cells hit 50% or more photons to electrons especially when you don’t care about the cost per kw with NASA money.
A 300kw array would be under a half acre in size that’s 22,000 square feet or more accurately right at 2000 sq meters not at all hard to do in space under no atmospheric drag or flight loading.
At 6 Newton’s of thrust even the thrust vector loading will be mild you could do inflatable structures for lenses to.focus multiples of solar insolation on the array.
One large inflated ring holding open and stiff Fresnel lens of 500 meters in diameter focused on a 50 x 50 meter array. Is 196,000 sq meters focused on 2500 for a factor of 78 suns.
Outside earth’s atmosphere it’s 1361 watts per sq meter and triple band gap cells convert 50% of that into electrons. Just the 50x50 meter array alone would be 1700 kilowatts putting a Fresnel lens made with plastic fabric lens and inflatable ring to hold it open is 78 suns worth focused on that array or up too 132 megawatts worth.
All for much less weight than even a fast spectrum nearly 100% highly enriched uranium reactor could do once you do the turbines and most importantly the shielding and radiators.
At 78 suns the backs of those panels will be red hot radiating away to the absolute zero temp of deep space the panels are self cooling in that regard they are the generator AND the radiator it cuts the mass not in half but orders of magnitude.
No one can sail WEST and reach China. I’ve been saying this since I was a child! You’ve gotta take a three-year overland trip East! First one hump camels, then two humps.—Marco Polo
Almost three centuries later, Christopher Columbus.
I seem to remember a couple years ago they invented a nuclear engine that was supposed to change everything. When they touched it off it blew up, killed a bunch of top scientists, and irradiated the whole area. We haven’t heard much about that since so I’m not holding my breath about this “game changer”.
“ Its still in the experimental stages?”
Could be.
That’s a big detail to leave out in an article specifying the speed it will travel when going to Mars.
How about they make some good hydrogen cars with the technology first.
It would be nice if we could all play together in the same sandbox.
This thread is chock full of somewhat uncomfortable reaction to evidence that American exceptionalism is suspect.
Russia has its own Central Bank. If you want to believe they can’t sell oil and therefore can’t have a space program, you’re destined to be disappointed. They can create money to pay their workers and they don’t have to import pretty much anything.
A few more items of disquiet.
India became the first country to land at the South Pole of the moon in 2023 and have the vehicle survive the attempt.
China had designated a date for a Mars sample return mission. 2030. China has also had its own space station in orbit and permanently manned there for the past 4 yrs and did not require Soyuz to maintain their station, as America did for multi nations for many years.
One of the impressive items of the manned moon landings was they were done while America funded a war. No reason to believe Russia could not achieve this propulsion milestone similarly.
People don’t or can’t do the math needed to grasp what even small constant acceleration can do.
Ignoring the relativity limits due to the apparent increase in mass as a body approaches light speed. If you could do 1G acceleration in the spacecraft the occupants would stand and move around like on earth in less than a years time they would be approaching 99.999 of C or light speed. From earth they would have appeared to travel half a light years distance and would be receding at apparent light speed. Time dilation for the crew means they could cross the galaxy in what would appear to them to be a lifetime but would be 100,000 years to an outside observer. It’s all relative my boys. A single grain of dust at 99% would vaporize the ship so some form of energy shield would have to plow the road up front even the drag of the interstellar medium primarily hydrogen gas would produce a huge shock way up front at thuse speeds.
Point is if you can have even 1/10 of a G of constant acceleration you can get to truly fantastic speeds in a few weeks or months time. Sending a probe to 100AU and the gravity lens point is doable in the career span of the scientists launching it. Mars in a two weeks comes into play and orbital windows don’t matter you can cut across the solar system directly no transfer orbits direct hyperbolic paths. Jupiter and Europa also direct and slow into orbit or landing on Europa.
High energy as in gigawatt level plasma thrusters allow for hyperbolic paths and deep space exit velocities that get probes to alpha centari in hundreds not thousands of years, using a magsail to slow down and get into orbital capture of the Centari system is possible too. 30% of C is within reach with multi megawatt plasma thrusters for probes. Drop down close to the Sun via reverse orbital thrust vector down to near Mercury orbit and then turn and burn deep and hard in the Sun’s gravity well using a thousand plus Sun’s worth of concentrated solar at gigawatt levels that close to good ole El Sol your exit path is a straight line out at 3 to 5 Gs of continuous acceleration you should hit 30%C as you scream past earth’s orbit
In the photograph, it was pretty obvious that there were a lot of very large electrical cables leading into another room. That is a dead give-a-way that it isn't ready to install in a ship.
Yeah.
So, compare to the headline:
“ Russia Just Built a Plasma Engine That Could Reach Mars in 30 Days—SpaceX’s Biggest Problem Yet? ”
I have known for decades that reporters are dullards. Headlines are just stupid tags for content-less fabrications.
Lol.
NASA had the VASIMR engine it’s the same concept and it takes multiple megawatts worth of power. The engine is light and with modern silicon carbide power electronics hitting megawatt levels in suitcase sized packages. The Tesla semi has 800+ kw to it’s dual motors the power electronic block for that is smaller than a steamer trunk.
Nuclear reactors are heavy especially thermal spectrum ones they are carrying 95% U238 and a moderator mass to get to use low enriched fuels. HEU fast spectrum can be much lighter but then you literally have a bomb as a reactor plus shielding plus huge heat radiators. Nukes only make sense for deep space missions. Anywhere inside Jupiter’s orbit thin film solar is going to absolutely kill nuclear in mass per kilowatt delivered. The closer to the Sun the more the advantage is for solar. You can use inflatable structures to get truly huge capture area’s hundreds of megawatts delivered from a 500 meter class inflatable.
This engine looks to be lighter than VASIMR engine it should be as it’s a newer design. At 6 Newton’s it already beats any other megawatt class ion drive or plasma drive. The Russians have a long history of space advancements it’s boomer cope to think otherwise they put the first probes on Venus w/o a parachute at that. They also had the first ion and plasma thrusters in space and in use. It’s cope and foolish to underestimate their scientific community. The peasants might not be first rate but a class of citizens there are first rate same for the Chinese they crank out engineers and scientists at triple the rates we do.
Do I detect a plasma engine ‘gap’?
Nice engine comparison. Yes, the Russians do innovate astonishingly well. Many Freepers like to fool themselves about the technical prowess of other Nations. That will be pride before the fall.
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