Patent ID: 7581380

Claim:
An air-breathing electrostatic ion thruster, comprising: a housing having a forward end, a rearward end and an electrically conductive inner surface, said inner surface defining an ionization chamber in said housing, said ionization chamber having an inlet at said forward end to receive a gas and an outlet at said rearward end to discharge charged ions; a forward screen electrode at said inlet, said forward screen electrode configured to allow said gas to flow therethrough into said ionization chamber; an inner electrode disposed in said ionization chamber, said inner electrode configured to ionize said gas in said ionization chamber so as to generate a plurality of charged ions; a rearward screen electrode at said outlet; an accelerator electrode at said outlet generally rearward of said rearward screen electrode, said rearward screen electrode and said accelerator electrode substantially aligned to allow said charged ions to pass through said outlet to generate thrust; and a source of electrical power electrically connected to said inner surface, said forward screen electrode and said rearward screen electrode so as to provide current of a first polarity and electrically connected to said inner electrode and said accelerator electrode so as to provide current of a second polarity.