Ion Propulsion

Ion propulsion is focused on researching and developing a small scale ion thruster, similar to propulsion technologies for most satellites. The project employs electrical, mechanical, and aerospace engineering to design a thruster and a sophisticated test system.

Our Mission

This project will create an experimental ion thruster, "Zeus." Ion thrusters are a unique project not offered by many universities, and would be UCF's first time ever building one. The method of ionization used for this thruster is radio frequency (RF), the propellant gas that will be used is Argon, and the projected specific impulse is in the thousands of seconds. The main goal of this project is show a functioning thruster with the hope of achieving thrust.