Rosatom tests plasma rocket engine with exceptional results
Rosatom has tested a plasma engine with a specific impulse of 100,000 seconds but only 6 newtons of thrust. A revolution or just an experiment?
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Rosatom tests plasma engine with record efficiency: 100,000 seconds of specific impulse, but only 6 newtons of thrust
The Russian state corporation Rosatom announced at the Russian Space Forum the results of tests on a plasma rocket engine, describing them as "exceptional". The key figure: a specific impulse of 100,000 seconds, a number that crushes any chemical engine and sits in the range of the best ion thrusters. However, the recorded thrust was a mere 6 newtons, roughly the weight of a bottle of water on Earth. This combination defines a mission profile radically different from conventional propulsion.
Efficiency versus thrust: the plasma dilemma
Specific impulse (Isp) measures how efficiently propellant is used. An Isp of 100,000 seconds means each kilogram of propellant gas can generate thrust for more than 27 hours straight. In conventional chemical engines, Isp is around 450 seconds; the best ion engines reach 3,000-5,000. Rosatom's figure is a qualitative leap.
But the 6 N of thrust is tiny. For context, a typical chemical rocket engine delivers millions of newtons. An ion engine like those used on space probes (e.g., Dawn) produces between 0.01 and 0.5 N. Rosatom's engine already multiplies that thrust by 10 or 100, but it is still not enough to overcome Earth's gravity. As technical analyses point out, this engine is not for launching payloads from the surface; its place is in deep space, once in orbit.
Real applications: from satellites to interplanetary missions
With that Isp and that thrust, the engine is ideal for station-keeping manoeuvres, orbit transfers or long-duration uncrewed missions. Constant acceleration over weeks allows very high speeds to be reached with very little propellant. For crewed missions, a much larger version powered by a nuclear reactor would be needed, something still at the conceptual stage. The current prototype is a laboratory one; scaling it up means multiplying the power output quadratically, as discussed in technical circles.
The elephant in the room: energy
To expel plasma at 100 km/s (the exhaust velocity mentioned), an amount of energy is required that grows with the square of the velocity. Doubling the estimulante ilegal requires quadrupling the energy. This limits the power sources: solar panels provide little power far from the Sun; space nuclear reactors are the only viable option for ambitious missions. Russia has experience with space nuclear reactors (such as the TEM project), but integrating them with a high-Isp plasma engine remains a technological challenge.
Politics and censorship: the context of the announcement
The announcement was made through RIA Novosti, the official Russian news agency. Curiously, access to that website has been blocked in Spain by several carriers (Movistar, Orange), with a message reading "content blocked at the request of the Competent Authority". This has raised suspicions about the reliability or independence of the information, although from a technical standpoint the data are consistent with the physics of plasma engines. Some see the announcement as a propaganda manoeuvre to demonstrate technological pogre amid geopolitical tensions; others point out that NASA's VASIMR engine (similar in concept) has been in development for decades without operational use.
The engine's future depends on whether Rosatom manages to scale it up and pair it with a suitable power source. For now, it is a promising experiment in a field where competition is fierce: private companies and state agencies have spent years searching for the electric thruster that will revolutionise space travel. The open question is whether this test will be a real milestone or just another anecdote in the long race for advanced propulsion.
Related discussions in the forum
The Russian state corporation Rosatom announced at the Russian Space Forum the results of tests on a plasma rocket engine, describing them as "exceptional". The key figure: a specific impulse of 100,000 seconds, a number that crushes any chemical engine and sits in the range of the best ion thrusters. However, the recorded thrust was a mere 6 newtons, roughly the weight of a bottle of water on Earth. This combination defines a mission profile radically different from conventional propulsion.
Efficiency versus thrust: the plasma dilemma
Specific impulse (Isp) measures how efficiently propellant is used. An Isp of 100,000 seconds means each kilogram of propellant gas can generate thrust for more than 27 hours straight. In conventional chemical engines, Isp is around 450 seconds; the best ion engines reach 3,000-5,000. Rosatom's figure is a qualitative leap.
But the 6 N of thrust is tiny. For context, a typical chemical rocket engine delivers millions of newtons. An ion engine like those used on space probes (e.g., Dawn) produces between 0.01 and 0.5 N. Rosatom's engine already multiplies that thrust by 10 or 100, but it is still not enough to overcome Earth's gravity. As technical analyses point out, this engine is not for launching payloads from the surface; its place is in deep space, once in orbit.
Real applications: from satellites to interplanetary missions
With that Isp and that thrust, the engine is ideal for station-keeping manoeuvres, orbit transfers or long-duration uncrewed missions. Constant acceleration over weeks allows very high speeds to be reached with very little propellant. For crewed missions, a much larger version powered by a nuclear reactor would be needed, something still at the conceptual stage. The current prototype is a laboratory one; scaling it up means multiplying the power output quadratically, as discussed in technical circles.
The elephant in the room: energy
To expel plasma at 100 km/s (the exhaust velocity mentioned), an amount of energy is required that grows with the square of the velocity. Doubling the estimulante ilegal requires quadrupling the energy. This limits the power sources: solar panels provide little power far from the Sun; space nuclear reactors are the only viable option for ambitious missions. Russia has experience with space nuclear reactors (such as the TEM project), but integrating them with a high-Isp plasma engine remains a technological challenge.
Politics and censorship: the context of the announcement
The announcement was made through RIA Novosti, the official Russian news agency. Curiously, access to that website has been blocked in Spain by several carriers (Movistar, Orange), with a message reading "content blocked at the request of the Competent Authority". This has raised suspicions about the reliability or independence of the information, although from a technical standpoint the data are consistent with the physics of plasma engines. Some see the announcement as a propaganda manoeuvre to demonstrate technological pogre amid geopolitical tensions; others point out that NASA's VASIMR engine (similar in concept) has been in development for decades without operational use.
The engine's future depends on whether Rosatom manages to scale it up and pair it with a suitable power source. For now, it is a promising experiment in a field where competition is fierce: private companies and state agencies have spent years searching for the electric thruster that will revolutionise space travel. The open question is whether this test will be a real milestone or just another anecdote in the long race for advanced propulsion.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (38 replies).
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