Acceleration Principles and Technologies

Current propulsion technology relies on the ejection of mass, known as reaction mass, to generate forward movement or thrust. The objective of this chapter is to present and discuss the physical laws and technological means required to accelerate and collimate the reaction mass. According to the previously established taxonomy, we will distinguish between thermal and electrostatic acceleration. The former pertains to chemical and nuclear thermal propulsion systems, while the latter is relevant for solar and nuclear electric propulsion. Both technologies will be discussed separately.