RIT-10 ion thruster
EADS Astrium’s RIT-10 is a 600 W-class radio-frequency gridded-ion thruster flown on ESA’s Artemis spacecraft. ESA’s comparison gives a 30 W/mN power-to-thrust ratio, yielding a normalized nominal thrust of 20 mN; the bounded sources establish Artemis flight heritage and do not assert a current production lifecycle.
Identity
- Aliases
- RIT 10RIT-10
- Domains
- spaceflight
- Identity Level
- model
- Kind
- electric-thruster
- Name
- RIT-10 ion thruster
- Status
- historical
Details
- Description
- EADS Astrium’s RIT-10 is a 600 W-class radio-frequency gridded-ion thruster flown on ESA’s Artemis spacecraft. ESA’s comparison gives a 30 W/mN power-to-thrust ratio, yielding a normalized nominal thrust of 20 mN; the bounded sources establish Artemis flight heritage and do not assert a current production lifecycle.
- Developers
- Electric Specs
- Input Power Max
- …
- Input Power Min
- …
- Specific Impulse Max
- …
- Specific Impulse Min
- …
- Thrust Max
- …
- Manufacturers
- Propellants
- xenon
Links
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- August 15, 2026 at 02:43:21 UTC
- Updated Time
- August 21, 2026 at 11:11:03 UTC
Other
- Sources
- Accessed Date
- 2026-08-21
- Note
- ESA's propulsion comparison identifies EADS RIT-10 as a 600 W ion engine with 30 W/mN power-to-thrust ratio, 2,500-4,200 s specific impulse, and operational Artemis flight heritage; the ratio is normalized to 20 mN nominal thrust.
- Publisher
- European Space Agency
- Title
- Propulsion Telecommunication Days
- Accessed Date
- 2026-08-21
- Note
- ESA's ESTEC annual report records the Astrium-manufactured RIT-10 life test exceeding 15,000 hours in support of the Artemis mission.
- Publisher
- European Space Agency
- Title
- Annual Report 2001 — ESTEC Electric-Propulsion Laboratory
- Accessed Date
- 2026-08-21
- Note
- ESA identifies the Artemis RIT as a German 15 mN radio-frequency ion thruster and describes the low-thrust electric-propulsion installation context.
- Publisher
- European Space Agency
- Title
- Artemis: ion thrusters
- Accessed Date
- 2026-08-21
- Note
- DLR identifies the RIT 10 class as a radio-frequency propulsion system developed at ArianeGroup in Lampoldshausen and recounts how the Artemis RIT-10 helped recover the spacecraft’s intended orbit.
- Publisher
- German Aerospace Center (DLR)
- Title
- Market-ready: Electric propulsion systems made in Germany