A high-power plasma engine tested at JPL could cut travel times and risks for crewed flights to the Red Planet.
Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory fired a lithium-fed magnetoplasmadynamic thruster on Feb. 24, 2026. The prototype reached 120 kilowatts—more than 25 times the power of the electric thrusters on the Psyche spacecraft, the highest-power system currently flying for NASA.
The test took place inside JPL’s specialized CoMeT vacuum chamber, a facility built to handle metal-vapor propellants at extreme power levels. Across five ignitions the central tungsten electrode glowed white-hot above 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,800 degrees Celsius). The outer electrode produced a vivid red plasma plume.
Why this design matters
Unlike today’s solar-powered electric thrusters that use xenon or similar gases, this magnetoplasmadynamic engine runs on lithium metal vapor. High electrical currents interact with a magnetic field to accelerate the plasma. The result is higher thrust density while still using far less propellant than chemical rockets.
NASA Marshall highlighted the result on Aug. 10, calling it a giant leap toward Mars. Fully developed and paired with a nuclear power source, the technology could reduce launch mass and support the heavy payloads needed for human crews.
The long road ahead
A crewed Mars mission would likely need 2 to 4 megawatts of total power—several thrusters running together for more than 23,000 hours. The team’s next targets sit between 500 kilowatts and 1 megawatt per engine. Extreme heat and long-duration reliability remain the biggest engineering hurdles.
The work is led by JPL with partners at Princeton University and NASA’s Glenn Research Center. Funding comes from the Space Nuclear Propulsion project based at Marshall Space Flight Center.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman called the test real progress toward putting an American astronaut on Mars. “This marks the first time in the United States that an electric propulsion system has operated at power levels this high,” he said.
The successful firing does not mean a Mars ship is ready. It does show the physics works at the power levels that matter. Further tests will determine whether lithium MPD thrusters can become a practical backbone for nuclear electric propulsion.
A giant leap to Mars! 🚀
— NASA Marshall (@NASA_Marshall) August 10, 2026
NASA recently completed testing of a lithium-fed electromagnetic thruster, reaching 5x more power than today's electric propulsion systems. Paired with a nuclear power source, this tech could slash travel time to Mars!
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