An ion thruster is a form of electric propulsion used for spacecraft propulsion.

It
creates thrust by acceleratingions with electricity. The term is strictly used to refer to
gridded electrostatic ion thrusters, but may more loosely be applied to all electric propulsion
systems that accelerate plasma, since plasma consists of ions.
Ion thrusters are categorized by how they accelerate the ions, using
either electrostatic or electromagnetic force. Electrostatic thrusters use the Coulomb force and
accelerate the ions in the direction of the electric field. Electromagnetic thrusters use the Lorentz
force. In either case, when an ion passes through an electrostatic grid engine, the potential
difference of the electric field converts to the ion's kinetic energy.
Ion thrusters have an input power spanning 17 kW, exhaust velocity 2050 km/s, thrust 25
250 millinewtons andefficiency 6580%.[1][2]
The Deep Space 1 spacecraft, powered by an ion thruster, changed velocity by 4 300 m/s while
consuming less than 74 kilograms of xenon. The Dawn spacecraft broke the record, reaching
10 000 m/s.[1][2]
Applications include control of the orientation and position of orbiting satellites (some satellites
have dozens of low-power ion thrusters) and use as a main propulsion engine for low-mass
robotic space vehicles (for example Deep Space 1 and Dawn).[1][2]
Ion thrusters are not the most promising type of electrically powered spacecraft
propulsion (although more successful in practice).[2] An ion drive would require two days to
accelerate a car to highway speed. Ion engines' technical characteristics, especially thrust, are
considerably inferior to its literary prototypes.[1][2] Its technical capabilities are limited by the space
charge created by ions. This limits the thrust density (force per cross-sectional area of the
engine).[2] Ion thrusters create small thrust levels (Deep Space 1's thrust approximately equals
the weight of one sheet of paper[2]) compared to conventional chemical rockets, but achieve
high specific impulse, or propellant mass efficiency, by accelerating their exhaust to high speed.
Thepower imparted to the exhaust increases with the square of its velocity while thrust increases
linearly. Conversely, chemical rockets provide high thrust, but are limited in totalimpulse by the
small amount of energy that can be stored chemically in the propellants.[3] Given the practical
weight of suitable power sources, the accelerations given by ion thrusters are frequently less
than one thousandth of standard gravity. However, since they operate as electric (or
electrostatic) motors, they convert a greater fraction of input power into kinetic exhaust power.
Chemical rockets operate as heat engines, hence Carnot's theorem bounds their possible
exhaust velocity.
Ion thrust engines are practical only in the vacuum of space and cannot take vehicles through
the atmosphere. This is because ion engines do not work in the presence of ions outside the
engine. Spacecraft rely on conventional chemical rockets to initially reach orbit.