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Laser propulsion

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205:, for their extreme sensitivity to the movement of mirror. Bae originally proposed to use photon recycling for use in a nanometer accuracy formation flight of satellites for this reason. Bae, however, discovered that in an active optical cavity formed by two high-reflectance mirrors and a laser gain medium in between, similar to the typical laser cavity, photon recycling becomes less sensitive to the movement of mirrors. Bae named the laser thruster based on the photon recycling in an active optical cavity Photonic Laser Thruster (PLT). In 2015 his team demonstrated the number of photon recycling up to 1,540 over a distance of a few meters and photonic thrusts up to 3.5 mN with the use of a 500 W laser system. In a laboratory demonstration, a Cubesat (0.75 kg in weight) was propelled with PLT. 395:
between the space shuttle's hydrogen/oxygen engines which has a specific impulse of 453 and the above cited example yields a specific impulse of 2034 for the mirror rocket which is a significant improvement. Clever control of the discs would allow much longer acceleration periods as well and therefore higher exit velocities. Jordin Kare calculated that these mirrored discs could theoretically be pushed to around 32 million g but would be at the limit of any material's strength and subject to total failure. The propulsion design can be used on spacecraft going out directly from Earth's orbit or coming towards the Earth as in a returning elliptical orbit.
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considerably higher force produced from the same laser power. There is also a multi-bounce photonic sail configuration which uses a large Fresnel lens around a laser generating system. In this configuration the laser shines light on a probe sail accelerating it outwards which is then reflected back through the Fresnel lens to be reflected off a larger more massive reflector probe going in the other direction. The laser light is reflected back and forth many times improving the force transmitted but importantly allows the large lens to remain in a more stable position as it is not greatly influenced by the laser lights momentum.
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approaching 100%. The HX thruster is limited by the heat exchanger material and by radiative losses to relatively low gas temperatures, typically 1000–2000 °C. For a given temperature, the specific impulse is maximized with the minimum molecular weight reaction mass, and with hydrogen propellant, that provides sufficient specific impulse as high as 600–800 seconds, high enough in principle to allow single stage vehicles to reach low Earth orbit. The HX laser thruster concept was developed by
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a waiting mobile mirror disc which will be the reaction mass. The pulse of laser light becomes trapped in the tube, bouncing back and forth and accelerating the mirror disc out at very high velocity. The mirrors are moved into position inside the tube from magazines on the side of the craft after the laser pulse has switched off. Accelerations of millions of
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A continuous laser beam focused in a flowing stream of gas creates a stable laser sustained plasma which heats the gas; the hot gas is then expanded through a conventional nozzle to produce thrust. Because the plasma does not touch the walls of the engine, very high gas temperatures are possible, as
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In this design a lens and/or parabolic mirror focuses laser light into a small hole in a mirror that leads into a tube which is highly reflective inside and completely open at the other end. A phased-array laser is pulsed from Earth at the spacecraft where the laser light is focused into the tube to
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A variation on this concept was proposed by Prof. John Sinko and Dr. Clifford Schlecht as a redundant safety concept for assets on orbit. Packets of enclosed propellants are attached to the outside of a space suit, and exhaust channels run from each packet to the far side of the astronaut or tool. A
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and laser sails. The second method uses the laser to help expel mass from the spacecraft as in a conventional rocket. Thus, the first uses the laser for both energy and reaction mass, while the second uses the laser for energy, but carries reaction mass. Thus, the second is fundamentally limited in
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Another method of moving a much larger spacecraft to high velocities is by using a laser system to propel a stream of much smaller sails. Each alternative mini sail is slowed down by a laser from the home system so that they collide at ionising velocities. The ionising collisions could then be used
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There are two main approaches: off-board, where the laser source is external to the spacecraft, and onboard, where the laser is part of the spacecraft's propulsion system. Off-board laser propulsion, which includes laser-powered launches and laser light sails, eliminates the need for the spacecraft
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This proposal would require two spacecraft: one that travels and another in Earth orbit to propel the former. The second spacecraft would fire thousands of metal pellets at the first. It would either shoot a laser at the first spacecraft or align a laser from the Earth at the first spacecraft. The
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laser beam from a space station or shuttle vaporizes the propellant inside the packs. Exhaust is directed behind the astronaut or tool, pulling the target towards the laser source. To brake the approach, a second wavelength is used to ablate the exterior of the propellant packets on the near side.
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A high energy pulse focused in a gas or on a solid surface surrounded by gas produces breakdown of the gas (usually air). This causes an expanding shock wave which absorbs laser energy at the shock front (a laser sustained detonation wave or LSD wave); expansion of the hot plasma behind the shock
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in the thousands. For example if a mirror disc is accelerated over 10 m at 2 million g it will reach a velocity of 20 km/s at the exit, this is over four times higher than the exhaust velocity of a hydrogen/oxygen rocket motor which is around 4.5 km/s. A comparison of specific impulses
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There are several forms of laser propulsion in which the laser is used as an energy source to provide momentum to propellant that is carried on board the rocket. The use of a laser as the energy source means that the energy provided to the propellant is not limited by the chemical energy of the
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values from 200 seconds to several thousand seconds are possible by choosing the propellant and laser pulse characteristics. Variations of ablative propulsion include double-pulse propulsion in which one laser pulse ablates material and a second laser pulse further heats the ablated gas, laser
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is usually assumed for actual use, at specific impulses around 1,000 seconds. CW plasma propulsion has the disadvantage that the laser beam must be precisely focused into the absorption chamber, either through a window or by using a specially-shaped nozzle. CW plasma thruster experiments were
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Metzgar and Landis proposed a variant on the laser-pushed sail, in which the photons reflected from the sail are re-used by re-reflecting them back to the sail by a stationary mirror; a "multi-bounce laser-based sail." This amplifies the force produced by recycling the photons, resulting in
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An extension of the idea is to utilize nuclear materials on the mini sails. These materials would undergo fission or fusion, greatly increasing the magnitude of the imparted force. However, this approach would require much higher collision velocities compared to non-nuclear implementations.
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propulsion. Using a large flat heat exchanger allows the laser beam to shine directly on the heat exchanger without focusing optics on the vehicle. The HX thruster has the advantage of working equally well with any laser wavelength and both CW and pulsed lasers, and of having an efficiency
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in which the propellant is heated by energy provided by an external laser beam. The beam heats a solid heat exchanger, which in turn heats an inert liquid propellant, converting it to hot gas which is exhausted through a conventional nozzle. This is similar in principle to
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laser would ablate some material from each pellet, propelling them at high speeds (>120 km/s) to provide thrust to the spacecraft. This method could allow a spacecraft to reach the outer planets in less than a year, 100 AU from the Sun in 3 years and the
147:, and the spacecraft must have strong pointing stability capabilities so it can tilt its sails fast enough to follow the center of the beam. These requirements increase in importance as mission complexity increases, such as when moving from 116:, in which the sail is being pushed by a laser, rather than the sun. The advantage of lightsail propulsion is that the vehicle does not carry either the energy source or the reaction mass for propulsion, and hence the limitations of the 1403: 482:
front during and after the pulse transmits momentum to the craft. Pulsed plasma propulsion using air as the working fluid is the simplest form of air-breathing laser propulsion. The record-breaking
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An optical cavity allows greater re-use of photons, but keeping the beam in the cavity becomes much more challenging. An optical cavity can be made with two high-reflectance mirrors, forming a
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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301889798_Simultaneous_Investigation_of_Flexibility_and_Plasma_Actuation_Effects_on_the_Aerodynamic_Characteristics_of_an_Oscillating_Airfoil
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in which any small movement of mirrors would destroy the resonance condition and null photonic thrust. Such optical cavities are used for gravitational wave detection as in
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Duplay, E.; Fan Bao, Z.; Rodriguez Rosero, S.; Sinha, A.; Higgins, A. (March 2022). "Design of a rapid transit to Mars mission using laser-thermal propulsion".
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and Wolfgang Moekel, with a variant using laser ablation pioneered by Leik Myrabo. An exposition of Kantrowitz's laser propulsion ideas was published in 1988.
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are possible for these small highly reflective mirrors, and velocities over short distances can reach into the tens of kilometers per second, allowing
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has flown for 12 hours and 26 minutes charged by a 2.25 kW laser (powered at less than half of its normal operating current), using 170 watt
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A general class of propulsion techniques in which the laser beam power is converted to electricity, which then powers some type of
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to achieving high velocities are avoided. Use of a laser-pushed lightsail was proposed initially by Marx in 1966, as a method of
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and the Hungarian physicist György Marx. Propulsion concepts using laser-energized rockets were developed in the 1970s by
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in 15 years. It would also be able to propel heavier spacecraft than other propulsion concepts (~1 ton in mass).
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micropropulsion in which a small laser on board a spacecraft ablates very small amounts of propellant for
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system and separate from the reaction mass. This form of propulsion differs from a conventional chemical
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G. A. Landis, "Optics and Materials Considerations for a Laser-Propelled Lightsail", paper IAA-89-664 (
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to convert laser energy to electricity and to electrically accelerate air around a vehicle for thrust.
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to interact with a powerful magnetic field on the spacecraft to provide a force to power and move it.
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G. A. Landis, "Small Laser-Pushed Lightsail Interstellar Probe: A Study of Parameter Variations",
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Another concept of pulsed plasma propulsion is being investigated by Prof. Hideyuki Horisawa.
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The laser-pushed sail is proposed as a method of propelling a small interstellar probe by the
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The basic concepts underlying a photon-propelled "sail" propulsion system were developed by
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in 1991; a similar microwave thermal propulsion concept was developed independently by
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and pulse duration, the material can be simply heated and evaporated, or converted to
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A large diameter beam is required so that only a small portion misses the sail due to
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Bae, Young K. (2008). "Photonic Laser Propulsion: Proof-of-Concept Demonstration".
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of small ALP setups is very high at about 5000 s (49 kN·s/kg), and unlike the
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Material is directly removed from a solid or liquid surface at high velocities by
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to carry its own energy source. Onboard laser propulsion involves using lasers in
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D. G. Andrews, "Cost Considerations for Interstellar Missions," paper IAA-93-706
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Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets", Vol. 13, 8, pp. 466–472. doi 10.2514/3.27919
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https://inis.iaea.org/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/50/003/50003489.pdf
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R. L. Forward, "Roundtrip Interstellar Travel Using Laser-Pushed lightsails,"
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For spacecraft, laser electric propulsion is considered as a competitor to
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of small devices that receive their energy directly from solar radiation.
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as the power receiver, and a laser has been demonstrated to charge the
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removal, in which the laser ablates material from debris particles in
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High-acceleration micro-scale laser sails for interstellar propulsion
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performed in the 1970s and 1980s, primarily by Dr. Dennis Keefer of
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Orbit-Raising and Maneuvering Propulsion: Research Status and Needs
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R. A. Metzger and G. A. Landis, "Multi-Bounce Laser-Based Sails,"
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where both energy and reaction mass come from the solid or liquid
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proposing a laser thermal propulsion system to be used to send a
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A laser-pushed lightsail is a thin reflective sail similar to a
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Investigations Into a Potential Laser-NASP Transport Technology
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Michaelis, MM and Forbes, A. 2006. Laser propulsion: a review.
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The Complete Book of Spaceflight: From Apollo 1 to Zero Gravity
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The laser thermal rocket (heat exchanger (HX) thruster) is a
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which uses air as the propellant, ALP can be used in space.
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where the energy source is a remote (usually ground-based)
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has proposed high-thrust laser electric propulsion, using
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by not carrying fuel, and analyzed in detail by physicist
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to a spacecraft in two different ways. The first way uses
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G. Marx, "Interstellar Vehicle Propelled by Laser Beam,"
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Proceedings of the International Conference on Lasers '87
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propulsion for low-thrust propulsion in space. However,
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in 1989. Further analysis of the concept was done by
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to drive momentum transfer and is the principle behind
1093:"Laser 'tractor beams' could reel in lost astronauts" 987:"Demonstration of a mN-Class Photonic Laser Thruster" 467:, changing their orbits and causing them to reenter. 2136: 2102: 2047: 1987: 1978: 1971: 1868: 1837: 1817: 1791: 1760: 1753: 1722: 1693: 1672: 1665: 1644: 1637: 767:, No. 4, pp. 149-154 (1997); Paper IAA-95-4.1.1.02, 778: 450:. Ablative propulsion will work in air or vacuum. 255:In 2022 a paper was published by researchers from 514:, the propellant must have low molecular weight; 819:STAIF Conference on Space Exploration Technology 271:by reducing the transit time outside of Earth's 974:. 20 November 2017 – via www.youtube.com. 687:MHD propulsion by absorption of laser radiation 620:Rocket propulsion technologies (disambiguation) 473:Propulsion Research Center has researched ALP. 166:The laser may alternatively consist of a large 1568:Final report of NIAC study on HX launch system 1188:(Technical report). Kare Technical Consulting. 1949: 1606: 1356:https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA344774 1334:https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/AD0766766 777:Eugene Mallove & Gregory Matloff (1989). 403:Ablative laser propulsion (ALP) is a form of 64:A laser launch Heat Exchanger Thruster system 57:or ionizing interstellar gas for propulsion. 8: 1367:Katsurayama, Hiroshi; Matsui, Kohei (2024). 934:AIAA SPACE 2007 Conference & Exposition 848:AIAA SPACE 2007 Conference & Exposition 494:) and Frank Mead, works on this principle. 2298: 1984: 1975: 1956: 1942: 1934: 1757: 1669: 1641: 1613: 1599: 1591: 525:University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign 442:by a pulsed laser. Depending on the laser 1142: 373:Learn how and when to remove this message 1537:, 11 July 2012. Retrieved: 12 July 2012. 1237:Grant Bergstue; Richard L. Fork (2011). 159:to one-way landing missions and then to 59: 631: 2154:Differential technological development 1522:, April 2010. Retrieved: 12 July 2012. 1295:Oshima, Take; Fujiwara, Toshi (1991). 1277: 1266: 1246:International Astronautical Federation 84:Laser propulsion systems may transfer 711:, Ed. (STS Press, Mc Lean, VA, 1988). 510:propulsion. However, to achieve high 7: 1552:NASA video on Laser Drive Propulsion 1018:, Vol. 21, No. 1 (1984), pp. 70-79. 821:, Albuquerque NM, Feb. 11-15, 2001. 642:Darling, David (December 12, 2002). 637: 635: 311:adding citations to reliable sources 199:Fabry–Pérot optical resonance cavity 2243:Future-oriented technology analysis 1574:"The original paper describing ALP" 100:final spacecraft velocities by the 735:J. Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol. 21 25: 1044:10.2514/5.9781600865633.0129.0148 1020:https://dx.doi.org/10.2514/3.8610 1016:Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets 887:Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets 269:astronaut exposure to cosmic rays 2297: 1916: 1915: 1713: 1217:"UAH Propulsion Research Center" 669:South African Journal of Science 492:Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 471:University of Alabama Huntsville 287: 124:that would avoid extremely high 1430:"Hideyuki Horisawa - Citations" 1161:10.1016/j.actaastro.2021.11.032 298:needs additional citations for 155:missions, and when moving from 27:Form of beam-powered propulsion 763:British Interplanetary Society 523:and Prof. Herman Krier of the 49:carried on board the vehicle. 1: 2270:Technology in science fiction 261:spacecraft to Mars in 45 days 2115:Laser communication in space 1657:Pneumatic freestanding tower 1369:"Laser-Supported Detonation" 1182:Kare, Jordin (15 Feb 2002). 737:, pp 187-195 (Mar-Apr. 1989) 407:in which an external pulsed 1475:Young, Chris (2023-03-16). 1381:10.1007/978-981-99-4618-1_7 1373:Beamed-mobility Engineering 1010:H. Krier and R. J. Glumb. 787:John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 118:Tsiolkovsky rocket equation 2347: 2275:Technology readiness level 2211:Technological unemployment 1481:interestingengineering.com 1032:"Laser Thermal Propulsion" 2293: 2258:Technological singularity 2218:Technological convergence 1894: 1711: 1628: 928:Bae, Young (2007-09-18). 842:Bae, Young (2007-09-18). 544:Laser electric propulsion 415:plume from a solid metal 399:Ablative laser propulsion 18:Ablative laser propulsion 2120:Orbital propellant depot 2077:Plasma propulsion engine 2072:Nuclear pulse propulsion 1685:Momentum exchange tether 571:in flight for 48 hours. 538:solar gravitational lens 508:gas core nuclear thermal 477:Pulsed plasma propulsion 2223:Technological evolution 2196:Exploratory engineering 2057:Beam-powered propulsion 2039:Reusable launch vehicle 1860:Beam-powered propulsion 1745:Endo-atmospheric tether 781:The Starflight Handbook 724:, July 1966, pp. 22-23. 569:unmanned aerial vehicle 405:beam-powered propulsion 136:, Mallove and Matloff, 35:beam-powered propulsion 2233:Technology forecasting 2228:Technological paradigm 2201:Proactionary principle 2002:Non-rocket spacelaunch 1886:High-altitude platform 1804:Blast wave accelerator 1622:Non-rocket spacelaunch 1276:Cite journal requires 605:List of laser articles 531:Pellet-beam propulsion 411:is used to burn off a 209:Laser energized rocket 108:Laser-pushed lightsail 65: 2331:Spacecraft propulsion 2159:Disruptive innovation 1965:Emerging technologies 1909:Megascale engineering 646:. Trade Paper Press. 175:Breakthrough Starshot 63: 2206:Technological change 2149:Collingridge dilemma 1754:Projectile launchers 1418:. 24 September 2020. 1110:Gasparini, Allison. 588:magnetohydrodynamics 501:CW plasma propulsion 459:or maneuvering, and 307:improve this article 218:Laser thermal rocket 2263:Technology scouting 2238:Accelerating change 2110:Interstellar travel 1313:1991ipas.conf..891O 1153:2022AcAau.192..143D 985:Bae, Young (2016). 942:10.2514/6.2007-6131 899:2008JSpRo..45..153B 856:10.2514/6.2007-6084 823:AIP Conf. Proc. 552 701:A. Kantrowitz, in 685:Myrabo, L.N. 1976." 561:photovoltaic arrays 550:electric propulsion 279:Laser mirror rocket 122:interstellar travel 2280:Technology roadmap 1904:Rocket sled launch 1881:Buoyant space port 1723:Dynamic structures 1513:2013-05-14 at the 322:"Laser propulsion" 93:radiation pressure 66: 2313: 2312: 2132: 2131: 2128: 2127: 1931: 1930: 1833: 1832: 1709: 1708: 1705: 1704: 1673:Orbiting skyhooks 1638:Static structures 1390:978-981-99-4617-4 1255:on March 18, 2014 1200:"Claude AIP 2010" 1131:Acta Astronautica 1081:on July 24, 2011. 1053:978-0-915928-82-8 951:978-1-62410-016-1 865:978-1-62410-016-1 831:10.1063/1.1357953 795:978-0-471-61912-3 419:, thus producing 392:specific impulses 383: 382: 375: 357: 257:McGill University 130:Robert L. Forward 79:Arthur Kantrowitz 16:(Redirected from 2338: 2301: 2300: 2248:Horizon scanning 2164:Ephemeralization 2082:Helicon thruster 2067:Laser propulsion 1985: 1976: 1958: 1951: 1944: 1935: 1919: 1918: 1900: 1855:Laser propulsion 1758: 1717: 1670: 1642: 1615: 1608: 1601: 1592: 1587: 1585: 1579:. Archived from 1578: 1553: 1538: 1529: 1523: 1497: 1491: 1490: 1488: 1487: 1472: 1466: 1465: 1463: 1462: 1451: 1445: 1444: 1442: 1441: 1432:. Archived from 1426: 1420: 1419: 1412: 1406: 1401: 1395: 1394: 1364: 1358: 1353: 1347: 1342: 1336: 1331: 1325: 1324: 1301:SAE Transactions 1292: 1286: 1285: 1279: 1274: 1272: 1264: 1262: 1260: 1254: 1248:. Archived from 1243: 1234: 1228: 1227: 1225: 1223: 1213: 1207: 1206: 1205:. December 2022. 1204: 1196: 1190: 1189: 1179: 1173: 1172: 1146: 1126: 1120: 1119: 1107: 1101: 1100: 1089: 1083: 1082: 1077:. 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Duarte 703: 697: 690: 681: 672: 668: 662: 643: 610:Optical lift 573: 554: 547: 534: 504: 496: 480: 469: 461:space debris 437: 402: 384: 369: 360: 350: 343: 336: 329: 317: 305:Please help 300:verification 297: 267:is reducing 254: 250: 221: 214:propellant. 212: 196: 192: 183: 179: 172: 168:phased array 165: 153:interstellar 142: 140:and others. 111: 83: 72: 51: 30: 29: 2253:Moore's law 2184:Neuroethics 2179:Cyberethics 2007:Mass driver 1850:Spaceplanes 1773:Mass driver 1740:Launch loop 1652:Space tower 1645:Compressive 1631:Spaceflight 1519:LaserMotive 1137:: 143–156. 1068:"jkare.com" 584:Leik Myrabo 488:Leik Myrabo 433:Leik Myrabo 238:Jordin Kare 145:diffraction 126:mass ratios 97:solar sails 47:propellants 2320:Categories 2144:Automation 2094:Solar sail 2049:Propulsion 1845:Air launch 1825:Slingatron 1818:Mechanical 1761:Electrical 1486:2023-12-18 1461:2023-12-18 1440:2017-02-06 1144:2201.00244 997:2018-11-22 957:2022-11-20 871:2022-11-20 626:References 557:quadcopter 552:thruster. 484:lightcraft 429:lightcraft 417:propellant 363:March 2023 333:newspapers 114:solar sail 2174:Bioethics 1799:Space gun 1535:sUAS News 1259:March 18, 1222:March 18, 1169:245291262 915:0022-4650 765:, Vol. 50 565:batteries 248:in 2001. 177:project. 1922:Category 1899:See also 1792:Chemical 1783:StarTram 1511:Archived 1321:44581195 594:See also 555:A small 516:hydrogen 490:of RPI ( 86:momentum 2017:Skyhook 1876:Balloon 1778:Railgun 1768:Coilgun 1680:Skyhook 1666:Tensile 1557:YouTube 1506:et al. 1309:Bibcode 1149:Bibcode 895:Bibcode 825:, 397. 347:scholar 246:Caltech 138:Andrews 69:History 2169:Ethics 2137:Topics 2087:VASIMR 1989:Launch 1972:Fields 1504:Nugent 1387:  1319:  1167:  1116:Forbes 1050:  948:  913:  862:  792:  650:  567:of an 448:plasma 421:thrust 413:plasma 349:  342:  335:  328:  320:  134:Landis 90:photon 43:rocket 2103:Other 1584:(PDF) 1577:(PDF) 1317:JSTOR 1253:(PDF) 1242:(PDF) 1203:(PDF) 1165:S2CID 1139:arXiv 1071:(PDF) 409:laser 354:JSTOR 340:books 39:laser 2304:List 1500:Kare 1385:ISBN 1282:help 1261:2014 1224:2014 1048:ISBN 946:ISBN 911:ISSN 860:ISBN 790:ISBN 748:text 648:ISBN 521:UTSI 444:flux 326:news 265:Mars 231:and 203:LIGO 1555:on 1377:doi 1305:100 1157:doi 1135:192 1040:doi 938:doi 903:doi 852:doi 827:doi 761:J. 689:," 673:102 578:or 506:in 388:g's 309:by 244:at 163:. 151:to 2322:: 1502:/ 1479:. 1383:. 1371:. 1315:. 1303:. 1299:. 1273:: 1271:}} 1267:{{ 1244:. 1163:. 1155:. 1147:. 1133:. 1114:. 1095:. 1073:. 1046:. 1034:. 1014:, 989:. 944:. 932:. 909:. 901:. 891:45 889:. 858:. 846:. 785:. 707:, 671:, 634:^ 527:. 275:. 104:. 1957:e 1950:t 1943:v 1614:e 1607:t 1600:v 1489:. 1464:. 1443:. 1393:. 1379:: 1323:. 1311:: 1284:) 1280:( 1263:. 1226:. 1171:. 1159:: 1151:: 1141:: 1118:. 1099:. 1056:. 1042:: 1000:. 960:. 940:: 917:. 905:: 897:: 874:. 854:: 829:: 798:. 750:) 656:. 376:) 370:( 365:) 361:( 351:· 344:· 337:· 330:· 303:. 20:)

Index

Ablative laser propulsion
beam-powered propulsion
laser
rocket
propellants
nuclear fusion

Eugene Sanger
Arthur Kantrowitz
momentum
photon
radiation pressure
solar sails
rocket equation
solar sail
Tsiolkovsky rocket equation
interstellar travel
mass ratios
Robert L. Forward
Landis
Andrews
diffraction
interplanetary
interstellar
flyby missions
return missions
phased array
Breakthrough Starshot
Fabry–Pérot optical resonance cavity
LIGO

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