"The technology of plasma thrusters using metal as a fuel is a really exciting development" Awesome concept and the name Neumann Drive is pretty cool.
this post was submitted on 13 Jun 2023
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I found this a bit confusing. Did I understood this correctly that this would be attached to satellites and it would collect metal garbage and convert it into fuel for the satellite to de-orbit?
Not exactly. The Neumann thrusters (and other similar electric propulsion units) provide little thrust, but are small and extremely (mass-)efficient. They carry a small amount of "fuel" (a small chunk of metal) on board which is burnt over a very long time to slowly de-orbit.
Because they're small and efficient, it's not difficult to attach one to a satellite and create a de-orbit plan rather than just leaving the spacecraft in space. In essence, these thrusters make the de-orbit process more feasible, leading to less stuff out in space in the future. And with spacecraft returning back to Earth, we can collect the remains, recycle them, and create new spacecraft. IMO it's great for the sustainability of the space industry.
Oh, so this is not about removing existing space garbage, but just adding less of new 😅 Thanks for clarification!