A laboratory in Troitsk, Russia may have brought humanity closer to interplanetary travel. Scientists from Rosatom, the country’s national nuclear corporation, have revealed a working prototype of a plasma propulsion engine that they say could propel a spacecraft to Mars in about 30 to 60 days.
The concept replaces fiery combustion with electromagnetically accelerated plasma, which is essentially a stream of ionized hydrogen atoms catapulted from the engine at breathtaking speed. At just 6 newtons, the design has modest thrust compared to a traditional rocket engine, but it is about 60 times more powerful than other ion thrusters like NASA’s Dawn. With its constant thrust applied for weeks, it could reach staggering final speeds.
Laboratory tests showed that the charged particles reached staggering speeds of around 100 kilometers per second (62 miles per second). To put things in perspective, that’s about 25 times faster than traditional chemical rockets. What impresses is the efficiency of the system, not the high speed of the particles. Instead of burning tons of propellant in minutes, the plasma engine acts more as a sustained energy release that continually converts cleaner nuclear electricity into forward motion.
How electromagnetic propulsion works
Rather than igniting the fuel, Rosatom’s design uses two charged electrodes to create a magnetic field. When hydrogen gas passes between them, its electrons are stripped and a plasma is created. This plasma is then accelerated out of the back of the engine as it passes through the field, generating the necessary thrust. While it may not have the thrust to rival some of the most powerful rocket engines, each pulse produces relatively minimal thrust, but the system operates almost indefinitely, creating momentum in the vacuum of space.
Rosatom’s prototype operates at around 300 kilowatts, a figure that requires a nuclear power source rather than solar panels. Inside a new 14-meter-long vacuum chamber, engineers are testing how magnetic confinement handles prolonged operation and thermal management. Since the plasma does not need to be heated to extreme temperatures, the engine’s internal components avoid the wear and tear typical of combustion thrusters.
This efficiency really shows in the numbers. Specific impulse, a measure of how efficiently it uses fuel, has reached figures of nearly 10,000 seconds, eclipsing the 4,000 to 5,000 seconds that today’s best electric thrusters produce. If engineers can safely connect it to a small nuclear power source, the future spacecraft could travel around the inner solar system without carrying huge fuel reserves or waiting for narrow launch windows to open.
Towards a safer and faster route to Mars
In space travel, shorter travel times define the mission and can even save lives. A trip that lasts weeks instead of a year significantly reduces an astronaut’s exposure to cosmic radiation and the effects of microgravity. Rosatom’s plasma engine, if it works as advertised, could make round-trip missions to Mars feasible with less protection and fewer health risks.
This technology is part of a now broader approach towards advanced propulsion. NASA is developing nuclear-powered rockets, private companies are experimenting with VASIMR plasma engines, and European researchers are testing water-based propulsion for small satellites. Rosatom’s contribution stands out for its potential scale. The plasma propulsion device could be used as a high-power electric motor for cargo missions or crew transports in deep space by 2030.
Skepticism around the Plasma Engine will persist until there is hard evidence of its claimed capabilities. But it’s an exciting prospect nonetheless. Rostatom’s ingenious combination of plasma physics and nuclear power could finally unlock the kind of sustainable and efficient energy needed to make Mars a destination measured in weeks rather than years.
