NASA Advances Mars Exploration With New Electromagnetic Engine Test

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - NASA has begun testing an electromagnetic thruster for a manned mission to Mars. The technology is being tested at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, which has been a high-power electric propulsion test site for the past few years.

The thruster being tested is a magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) thruster, which uses electric current and a magnetic field to propel lithium plasma out of the engine. The system can reach up to 120 kilowatts, far surpassing the electric propulsion systems currently used in spacecraft.

The tungsten metal core of the engine was heated to over 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (about 2,760 degrees Celsius) in five separate firings. The engine produced a bright white light accompanied by a red plasma jet from the nozzle inside the 26-foot (7.9-meter) test chamber. The chamber was designed to withstand extreme heat and energy.

The NASA team indicated that electric propulsion technology can reduce propellant usage by up to 90 percent compared to conventional chemical rockets. Although these systems produce less thrust, they can operate continuously for extended periods of time, allowing spacecraft to reach extremely high speeds.

James Polk, a senior research scientist at JPL, stated that the development of this technology has been ongoing for years. "Designing and building these thrusters over the last couple of years has been a long lead-up to this first test," he said, as quoted from the Earth report on May 5, 2026.

"It’s a huge moment for us because we not only showed the thruster works, but we also hit the power levels we were targeting," Polk added.

NASA considers this technology crucial to support the manned mission to Mars, which is estimated to require between 2 and 4 megawatts of energy. In the future, engineers plan to increase the power of each thruster to between 500 kilowatts and 1 megawatt. This is especially important for carrying larger payloads on long-distance space journeys when combined with nuclear energy sources.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman stated that the testing shows progress toward a manned mission to Mars. "At NASA, we work on many things at once, and we haven’t lost sight of Mars," he said.

According to Isaacman, successful performance in this test is a real step toward sending American astronauts to set foot on the Red Planet. This project marks the first time the U.S. has used a high-power electric propulsion system of up to 120 kilowatts. "We will continue to make strategic investments that will propel that next giant leap," he added.

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