NASA invests $67 mn into solar electric engines
NASA has awarded a $67 million contract to Washington-based Aerojet Rocketdyne to develop an advanced Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) system for deep-space missions. NASA said that SEP will deliver twice as much thrust as chemical engines, and be 10 times more fuel-efficient. Notably, solar electric engines supply thrust for longer periods of time, but aren’t as powerful as chemical engines.