Scientists of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom are successfully working on a project to create a plasma rocket engine with a capacity of several hundred kilowatts.
This technology will allow Russia to reach a new level of space exploration, Viktor Ilgisonis, head of Rosatom’s Scientific and Technical Research and Development, said on Monday (30 September, 2025).
In 2023, Rosatom developed a plasma accelerator with an external magnetic field for a prototype plasma rocket engine with increased thrust of at least 6 N and specific impulse of at least 100 kilometers (62 miles) per second. The average power of such an engine, operating in a pulsed-periodic mode, could reach 300 kW.
“A laboratory prototype has now been created. The goal for the coming years is to create a laboratory sample – that is, a flight-capable sample – and conduct ground testing. So, the project is proceeding quite well,” Ilgisonis told reporters.
Rosatom has said that the creation of a plasma rocket engine with a capacity of several hundred kilowatts will enable Russia in the future to achieve technological leadership in this field and reach a new level of space exploration, carry out interplanetary flights, and also regularly exchange cargo between the Earth and the Moon.
Source: Russian Embassy in Dhaka.
