NASA is making a powerful new ion engine to send astronauts to Mars — and it just passed its 1st test

space.com May 5, 2026

NASA is making a powerful new ion engine to send astronauts to Mars — and it just passed its 1st test

Curated by Shubham · TechCapsules · May 5, 2026

AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication

NASA has successfully tested a new ion engine, a lithium-fed magnetoplasmadynamic thruster, which is 25 times more powerful than its current state-of-the-art engine. The engine uses electromagnetic fields to accelerate ions, providing thrust, and could assist humans in reaching Mars. It reached 120 kilowatts of power in its first test, a significant milestone in developing advanced propulsion systems for deep space missions, with potential for further scaling up.

💡 Why It Matters

· The new ion engine's ability to operate at high power levels paves the way for more efficient and longer-duration space missions.
· By overcoming the limitations of current solar-powered ion engines, NASA can explore deeper into the solar system, enabling missions to reach distant planets like Mars.

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Satellite AI Inference Clears Orbit: Gemma 3 Ran Aboard YAM-9 in April

Loft Orbital's YAM-9 spacecraft successfully demonstrated the first publicly disclosed execution of a vision-language model in orbit. Aboard the spacecraft, Google DeepMind's Gemma 3 performed natural language queries, classified Earth imagery, and produced plain-English summaries without transmitting raw pixels to the ground. This achievement marks a significant shift in the value layer of Earth observation, moving from ground-based processing to onboard inference capabilities. The model, running on an Nvidia Jetson Orin AGX graphics processing unit, utilized a software harness developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to fit within the spacecraft's memory budget and processing constraints.

💡 This breakthrough enables Earth observation satellites to operate more autonomously, reducing reliance on ground-based processing and potentially leading to faster and more efficient analysis of satellite imagery.

space.com · Jun 17

‘Best. Mars. Mission. Ever.’ Scientists hail MAVEN’s legacy as NASA retires Red…

NASA has officially begun decommissioning the MAVEN orbiter, marking the end of an 11-year mission that significantly advanced scientists' understanding of Mars. The spacecraft lost contact in December 2025 after a routine communications blackout, and despite months of recovery efforts, it was determined that MAVEN was not recoverable. The mission, which was originally planned to last two years, far exceeded its goals, providing crucial insights into Mars' atmosphere, including the impact of solar storms on atmospheric gas loss. MAVEN's findings have contributed to over 800 scientific publications and have helped establish a clearer picture of the forces that transformed Mars over billions of years.

💡 The loss of MAVEN highlights the risks and uncertainties inherent in space exploration, but its legacy will endure as a testament to human ingenuity and scientific curiosity. By pushing the boundaries of our understanding of Mars, MAVEN has paved the way for future missions and discoveries, ensuring that the Red Planet remains a vital area of research and exploration.

spacenews.com · Jun 17

Dawn Aerospace raises $25 million

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💡 This investment will accelerate Dawn Aerospace's growth in emerging markets, including hypersonics testing and in-space mobility. By delivering reusable, responsive access across the air and space domain, Dawn can unlock the economic potential of space and solve critical national security challenges.

spacenews.com · Jun 17

America’s next economic frontier is 240,000 miles away

NASA's Artemis 2 astronauts have completed the first crewed lunar orbit in 50 years, marking a new era of returning to the moon. The moon is no longer just a place of scientific curiosity, but America's next great economic frontier, with its surface holding valuable resources such as water ice, hydrogen, and helium-3. Commercial space companies like Firefly Aerospace are already involved, with plans for repeatable missions to the moon, including a mission to the far side within the year. The goal is to establish a permanent moon base, with mining, resource extraction, and manufacturing driving a massive economic boom. NASA and commercial space companies are working together to achieve this, with the global space economy expected to reach $1.8 trillion by 2035. The moon's resources will support sustained human presence and enable new industries beyond Earth, with the US at the forefront.

💡 The moon's low gravity makes it an ideal location for launching materials into space, reducing costs and enabling new opportunities for space exploration. Establishing a permanent moon base will also drive innovation in industries such as energy and technology.

space.com · Jun 17

Watch European rocket launch record-breaking mission for Amazon on June 17

A European Ariane 6 rocket is set to launch a record-breaking 36 Amazon Leo satellites to orbit from French Guiana on June 17. The mission will be the 14th Amazon Leo launch and the third performed by an Ariane 6, breaking new ground with the heaviest payload ever launched by the Ariane launcher. The Ariane 6 will deploy the satellites about 289 miles above Earth, with all 36 expected to be flying freely by one hour and 51 minutes after liftoff.

💡 Amazon's growing satellite constellation, Amazon Leo, is dwarfed by SpaceX's Starlink, but this launch marks a significant milestone in the company's efforts to expand its broadband network in low Earth orbit. The success of this mission will further demonstrate the capabilities of the Ariane 6 rocket and its potential to support large satellite constellations.

spacenews.com · Jun 17

Swiss decision to not contribute to Copernicus tests program’s value model

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💡 The Swiss decision highlights the financial sustainability of Copernicus' open-data policy, which may become a concern if more countries question why they should pay into a system that non-contributors can still use.