3 ms·
Yes, definitely. If you had an engine with 3000s Isp, which according to Wikipedia wouldn't be unreasonable for an ion thruster, then your mass fraction would b
by schwarrrtz 10y ago
Yes, definitely. If you had an engine with 3000s Isp, which according to Wikipedia wouldn't be unreasonable for an ion thruster, then your mass fraction would be about exp(-2/30) ~ 0.94. So you'd only need 6% of your payload for fuel in that case.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_impulse#Examples https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_impulse#Examples