Ion drive

From Federation Space - Official Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search

A type of propulsion that uses an electric field to accelerate charged particles and eject them at high velocities. In some designs, the ion particles have been known to approach the speed of light.


This type of propulsion is used by many pre-warp civilizations to propel probes and lightweight spacecraft once they are in open space.


The thrust produced is considered quite gentle, and often requires anywhere from hours to weeks to reach full velocity.



Also see: Ion propulsion according to NASA's Glenn Research Center