Field Emission Electric Propulsion (FEEP) is an advanced concept of electrostatic propulsion, a form of ion propulsion that uses liquid metal (usually cesium or indium) as a propellant. A FEEP device consists of an emitter electrode and an accelerator. A potential difference of the order of 10 kV is applied between the two so as to generate a strong electric field on the tip of the metal surface. The field extracts the ions that are then accelerated at high speed, usually over 100 km / s. A separate electron source is required to keep the vehicle electrically neutral.

Due to its very small thrust (in the order of micronewton to millinewton), FEEPs are mainly used for controlling the microradilation in spacecraft. Voices correlateemodify wikitesto Links externalize the wikitesto

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