RIT-22 ion thruster
Astrium/EADS's RIT-22 is a 5 kW-class radio-frequency gridded-ion thruster developed for high-specific-impulse station-keeping and deep-space applications; the bounded sources document qualification work rather than a flight installation.
Identity
- Aliases
- RIT 22RIT-22 RF ion thruster
- Domains
- spaceflight
- Identity Level
- model
- Kind
- electric-thruster
- Name
- RIT-22 ion thruster
- Status
- development
Details
- Description
- Astrium/EADS's RIT-22 is a 5 kW-class radio-frequency gridded-ion thruster developed for high-specific-impulse station-keeping and deep-space applications; the bounded sources document qualification work rather than a flight installation.
- Electric Specs
- Input Power Kw Max
- 5
- Input Power Kw Min
- 5
- Specific Impulse SMax
- 6,500
- Specific Impulse SMin
- 2,500
- Propellants
- xenon
Links
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- August 15, 2026 at 02:44:38 UTC
- Updated Time
- August 15, 2026 at 02:44:38 UTC
Other
- Sources
- Accessed Date
- 2026-08-14
- Note
- ESA's propulsion comparison identifies EADS RIT-22 as a 5,000 W ion engine with 2,500-6,500 s specific impulse and qualification in progress for possible BepiColombo use.
- Publisher
- European Space Agency
- Title
- Propulsion Telecommunication Days
- Accessed Date
- 2026-08-14
- Note
- JPL's flight-thruster reference describes Astrium's RIT-22 as a 200 mN-class RF ion thruster under development for station-keeping applications.
- Publisher
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Title
- Flight Ion and Hall Thrusters