Star Trek — as much as we love it — was guilty sometimes of a bit of hyperbole and more than its share of inconsistency. In some episodes, ion drives were advanced technology and in others they were ...

The BepiColombo Mercury probe is a joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The probe is intended to study Mercury's magnetic field, ...

The ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission is on its way to Mercury, but instead of coasting to the smallest planet in the Solar System, it will be helped along by four state-of-the-art ion thrusters developed ...

The QinetiQ-engineered Solar Electric Propulsion System (SEPS) on board BepiColombo, the joint ESA/JAXA spacecraft on a mission to Mercury, has now begun propelling the Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) ...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. The BepiColombo mission to Mercury that left Earth on Oct. 19 has a long, seven-year journey ...

A ground-breaking Solar Electric Propulsion System (SEPS) developed and manufactured by an industrial consortium led by British company QinetiQ, will provide the engine power behind the BepiColombo ...

European Space Agency scientists have given the go-ahead to build an ion-powered engine for the agency’s spacecraft set to fly to Mercury in 2013. The ion-powered engine in the BepiColumbo spacecraft ...

The UK's Qinetiq is working on ways to improve the performance of ion optic systems (IOS) in gridded ion engines. Ion engines are considered ideal for deep space missions because of their very low ...

The ion thrusters that will help get ESA's BepiColombo spacecraft to Mercury have been successfully put through their paces in space for the first time. Testing of the thrusters that make up the most ...