Electrostatic Motor - Electrostatic Ion Drive

Electrostatic Ion Drive

Electric motors, in general, produce motion when powered by electric currents. The common type of spacecraft ion drive uses electrostatic forces to accelerate ions to generate forces to create motion, and thus can be considered as unconventional electric motors.

Gridded electrostatic ion thrusters commonly utilize xenon gas. This gas has no charge and is ionized by bombarding it with energetic electrons. These electrons can be provided from a hot cathode filament and accelerated in the electrical field of the cathode fall to the anode (Kaufman type ion thruster). Alternatively, the electrons can be accelerated by the oscillating electric field induced by an alternating magnetic field of a coil, which results in a self-sustaining discharge and omits any cathode (radiofrequency ion thruster).