An electric thruster, creating a thrust as gentle as a breath blowing out a candle, could send a spacecraft to Mars, so long as it keeps "blowing" and accelerating the craft over time.
Electric propulsion is regarded as one of the top cutting-edge space technologies as it could make humans go into deep space at a lower cost than other forms of propulsion.
The few countries mastering the technology have kept it confidential. Relying on its own efforts, China has developed the state-of-the-art technology, following the United States, Russia, Europe and Japan, and hopes to enter the international electric propulsion communication satellite market.
China plans to send its first full electric propulsion satellite into orbit around 2020, providing broadband communication data transmission to China and neighboring regions, according to Wang Min, deputy chief designer of the communication satellite, at the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST).
To read more, click here.