As part of a tether propulsion system, crafts can use long, strong conductors (though not all tethers are conductive) to change the orbits of spacecraft. It has the potential to make space travel significantly cheaper. It is a simplified, very low-budget magnetic sail. It can be used either to accelerate or brake an orbiting spacecraft. When direct current is pumped through the tether, it exerts a Lorentz force against the magnetic field, and the tether accelerates the spacecraft.
In 2012, the company Star Technology and Research was awarded a $1.9 million contract to qualify a tether propulsion system for an orbital debris removal.
Read more about this topic: Electrodynamic Tether