page_title: Quantum vacuum thruster
section_title: Current experiments
hierarchical_section_title: Quantum vacuum thruster / Experiments / Current experiments
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of the 2006 Woodward effect test article.
context_page_description: A quantum vacuum thruster is a theoretical system hypothesized to use the same principles and equations of motion that a conventional plasma thruster would use, namely magnetohydrodynamics, to make predictions about the behavior of the propellant. However, rather than using a conventional plasma as a propellant, a QVT would interact with quantum vacuum fluctuations of the zero-point field.
  The concept is controversial and generally not considered physically possible. However, if QVT systems were possible they could eliminate the need to carry propellant, being limited only by the availability of energy.
context_section_description: In 2015, Eagleworks attempted to gather performance data to support the development of a Q-thruster engineering prototype for reaction-control-system applications in the force range of 0.1–1 N with a corresponding input electrical power range of 0.3–3 kW. The group planned to begin by testing a refurbished test article to improve the historical performance of a 2006 experiment that attempted to demonstrate the Woodward effect. The photograph shows the test article and the plot diagram shows the thrust trace from a 500g load cell in experiments performed in 2006.
  The group hoped that testing the device on a high-fidelity torsion pendulum (1–4 μN at 10–40 W) will unambiguously demonstrate the feasibility of this concept, perhaps via an on-orbit detailed test objective (DTO) to test operation in outer space.
caption: The 2006 Woodward effect test article
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