---
title: "Field propulsion"
chunk: 6/9
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_propulsion"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:55:18.670066+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

== Definitions ==
Advanced-propulsion survey frameworks have grouped candidate concepts under headings such as thermal propulsion, field propulsion, and photon propulsion. In that broader historical literature, field propulsion was not always used as a strict synonym for modern propellantless propulsion; depending on the framework, it could also encompass related beamed-energy concepts and terrestrial field-matter coupling systems treated within the same analytical family. By contrast, propellantless propulsion in the narrower modern sense produces thrust through interaction with the surrounding environment rather than by expelling reaction mass. Later usage, as in NIAC studies of environment-coupled momentum exchange, restricts the term to systems that derive thrust from external fields or media without expelling onboard reaction mass. The boundaries of the term have therefore varied across successive classification frameworks, program definitions, and research criteria over more than a century of use. This article discusses the subject across that full historical range as documented in the source literature.

Examples of field propulsion technologies include systems that attempt to draw on the photon field of sunlight, the charged particles of the solar wind, or the magnetic fields of planetary environments. Broad definitions often include solar sail systems. Magnetic sail concepts, proposed by Dana Andrews and Robert Zubrin, exemplify this approach. In the broader historical literature, related terrestrial electromagnetic field-matter systems such as electrohydrodynamics (EHD) and magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) were also sometimes discussed within the same field-propulsion family, alongside more speculative proposals involving general relativity, quantum field theory, or zero-point energy.
Conservation of momentum is a fundamental requirement of propulsion systems because momentum is always conserved. This conservation law is implicit in the published work of Isaac Newton and Galileo Galilei, but arises on a fundamental level from the spatial translation symmetry of the laws of physics, as given by Noether's theorem. Open systems comply with the conservation of momentum by transferring it to or from the surrounding environment. Conservation laws can be satisfied in field propulsion via interaction with "a mass, a massive body, electromagnetic radiation, and space as a vacuum," as Minami described, adding that the "most promising interpretation" is treating vacuum as "a kind of reaction mass."
For instance, terrestrial MHD drives accelerate conductive fluids using electromagnetic fields, resulting in thrust through the Lorentz force in a surrounding reaction medium such as seawater or plasma. Environment-coupled space approaches such as sails, tethers, or plasma-wave coupling instead exchange momentum with ambient photons, plasma, or magnetic fields, and remain possible only if the method of external coupling is strong enough.
In practice, the viability of any open field-coupled concept depends on coupling strength to the surrounding environment. For example, momentum exchange with the solar wind or a magnetosphere scales with local plasma density, magnetic-field magnitude, and wave/field interaction efficiency; in weak or highly variable environments, thrust and control authority are correspondingly limited.
Any propulsion method that claims to generate net thrust in a closed system without external interaction violates the conservation of momentum, which follows from the spatial translation symmetry of physical law (Noether's theorem). Some speculative field propulsion concepts may require extensions to established physical theories, including beyond the Standard Model of particle physics and cosmology. Millis notes that proposed "space drive" schemes where forces act only internally produce no net motion, and relates this "net external force requirement" to the conservation of momentum.

=== Beamed-energy propulsion ===

In the broader historical literature used here, beam-powered propulsion was often discussed alongside field propulsion because it shifted energy supply offboard and, in some concepts, also drew working fluid or momentum exchange from the surroundings, even though many such systems do not fit the narrower modern propellantless-only sense. Beam-powered propulsion sends power from a remote source directly to a spacecraft propulsion system using directed-energy technologies such as lasers, microwaves, or relativistic charged-particle beams. A NASA contractor report surveyed such concepts, seeking large gains in payload, range, and terminal velocity beyond chemical rocket performance. The report identified enabling technologies (e.g., higher-current superconductors, potential room-temperature superconductors, metallic hydrogen) as then-potential paths to field propulsion prospects.
A study from the Air Force Research Laboratory concluded that researchers should prioritize concepts that draw both working fluid and energy from surroundings, because of their implications for outstanding performance. Proposals also include advanced electrostatic and MHD-based concepts that could leverage charged particle interactions with atmospheric fields or ionospheric plasmas and geomagnetic fields to produce directed motion. Some approaches use atmospheric or environmental material as working fluid or interaction medium, drawing reaction mass or momentum exchange from the ambient environment rather than from onboard propellant. The study suggested improvements in technologies like high-power lasers or new energy transfer methods could revitalize previously discarded propulsion ideas, including laser propulsion and infinite-Isp ramjets.

=== Ambient plasma-wave propulsion ===
NIAC studies proposed "ambient plasma wave propulsion" in which RF energy is coupled into ambient plasma using a spacecraft antenna, generating Alfvén waves, low-frequency disturbances that travel along ambient magnetic field lines in plasma; the report describes the wave as adding momentum to the antenna and spacecraft and thereby providing thrust as a "truly propellantless propulsion system". The 2011 Phase I assessment found the approach technically immature but potentially enabling if sensitivity and power challenges can be overcome.

=== Theoretical proposals ===