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0 pointsjfengel4mo ago0 comments

You don't need to go that far. Light has momentum, and you can use that directly. It has the maximum possible specific impulse.

However, it requires a lot of energy and we are nowhere near a practical model. It's also not "propellant-less"; the photons are the propellant.

0 comments

The practical point of being "propellant-less" is that you don't use up some finite supply of propellant.

If the "propellant" is electricity that our solar panels can generate, that's functionally propellant-less!

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 pointsjfengel4mo ago0 comments

You don't need to go that far. Light has momentum, and you can use that directly. It has the maximum possible specific impulse.

However, it requires a lot of energy and we are nowhere near a practical model. It's also not "propellant-less"; the photons are the propellant.

The practical point of being "propellant-less" is that you don't use up some finite supply of propellant.

If the "propellant" is electricity that our solar panels can generate, that's functionally propellant-less!

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse