/sci/ - Science & Math

>>12296493
I chose a Shuttle sized horizontal SSTO example because it's pretty much a worst case scenario for non-chemical space propulsion. If you can get even 0.01g steady acceleration for 70 days of thrusting (which you can with a mass ratio of 3 assuming that mass flow and thrust scale linearly with wattage) that gets you fucking brachistochrone trajectories to the Jupiter and Saturn systems. That's more than sufficient for colonizing the system.

>>12296497
Honestly I'm not sure how much it counts as an electrical thruster. It's more like a gas core open cycle plasma thruster that uses magnets and RF to generate the plasma, so the electrical input compared to thrust is more like comparing the energy of a rocket's gas generator or preburner to total thrust. None of the zappy bits are in physical contact with the propellant.