ion engine
noun
: a reaction engine deriving thrust from the ejection of a stream of ionized particles
Examples of ion engine in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The task was to find a trajectory to the moon for a small spacecraft released from NASA's space shuttle that used low thrust solar electric propulsion from Xenon ion engines.
—
Leonard David, Space.com, 27 Mar. 2025
Hence an electric propulsion system is also referred to as an ion engine.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 25 Jan. 2025
The impulse generated is not as immediately forceful as a chemical rocket, but ion engines require less fuel and therefore less mass, which reduces launch costs, and ion engines don't use up all their fuel as quickly as chemical rockets do.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 25 Jan. 2025
The satellites separated from the rocket but at an altitude too low for the spacecraft's ion engines to overcome.
—Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 15 July 2024
And by my calculations, the world’s annual production of xenon—the go-to propellant for ion engines—is insufficient to carry even a single solar-power satellite to GEO.
—IEEE Spectrum, 9 May 2024
Propelled by an ion engine, the craft was the first to ever visit a dwarf planet.
—Chelsea Gohd, Discover Magazine, 11 Dec. 2018
The laser would bathe the panels in light a hundred times as bright as sunshine, keeping the ion engine running from here to Pluto, about 4 billion miles away.
—Corey S. Powell, Discover Magazine, 13 Mar. 2019
Called a gridded ion engine, this is the type that powers Dawn.
—Steve Gabriel, Discover Magazine, 10 Mar. 2015
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Leonard David, Space.com, 27 Mar. 2025
Hence an electric propulsion system is also referred to as an ion engine.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 25 Jan. 2025
The impulse generated is not as immediately forceful as a chemical rocket, but ion engines require less fuel and therefore less mass, which reduces launch costs, and ion engines don't use up all their fuel as quickly as chemical rockets do.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 25 Jan. 2025
The satellites separated from the rocket but at an altitude too low for the spacecraft's ion engines to overcome.
—Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 15 July 2024
And by my calculations, the world’s annual production of xenon—the go-to propellant for ion engines—is insufficient to carry even a single solar-power satellite to GEO.
—IEEE Spectrum, 9 May 2024
Propelled by an ion engine, the craft was the first to ever visit a dwarf planet.
—Chelsea Gohd, Discover Magazine, 11 Dec. 2018
The laser would bathe the panels in light a hundred times as bright as sunshine, keeping the ion engine running from here to Pluto, about 4 billion miles away.
—Corey S. Powell, Discover Magazine, 13 Mar. 2019
Called a gridded ion engine, this is the type that powers Dawn.
—Steve Gabriel, Discover Magazine, 10 Mar. 2015
Cite this Entry
“Ion engine.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ion%20engine. Accessed 14 Jul. 2025.
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