Space has a trash problem, with defunct satellites, rockets, and smaller broken bits orbiting Earth at high speeds. The amount of space junk is only increasing, raising the risk of collision with ...

The big picture: In deep-space travel, the race is no longer about who has the biggest rocket – it's about who can build the smartest plasma engine. As the competition to reach Mars intensifies, ...

Plasma jet engines promise a future of fuel-free, electrically driven flight, but the technology faces a stubborn obstacle that no amount of enthusiasm can wish away. Ionizing air to generate thrust ...

Russia's state atomic energy corporation, Rosatom, has developed a plasma electric rocket engine that could send spacecraft to Mars in just 30 to 60 days. The plasma engine works by accelerating ...

Russia is quietly testing a new plasma propulsion system that, if it performs as claimed, could dramatically change how long it takes to travel to Mars. Early results suggest a leap in speed and ...

In the relentless quest to make journeys to Mars shorter and safer, Russian scientists have recently turned heads with a bold claim: A plasma-based propulsion system could cut the Earth–Mars transit ...

The coming decades of space exploration hinge on a single, stubborn number: the 225 million kilometres between Earth and Mars. Chemical rockets, the workhorses of every space programme to date, take ...