Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

• Electrospray thruster in a TEM featured on Space Daily
• Ferrofluid ion thruster featured on The Economist
• Ferrofluid ion thruster featured on Space Daily
• MTU wins Air Force Competition - DoD will launch satellite
• Dr. Lyon B. King recipient of Ron and Elaine Starr endowed chair
• New Aerospace Center at MTU
• Dr. Lyon B. King wins SAE Engineering Education Award
• Oculus places third at national competition
• Sikkema awarded NIAC Student Fellows Prize
• HuskySat places third at national competition
• Dr. Lyon B. King wins Presidential Award
• The Isp Lab is currently hiring
• Dr. Lyon B. King wins NSF Early Career Award

The Ion Space Propulsion Laboratory (Isp Lab) at Michigan Technological University was founded in 2000 under the direction of Professor Lyon B. King in the Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics. The lab was set up with the following goals:

• explore the fundamental operating processes in plasma space thrusters
• develop means to improve the performance of existing technologies
• investigate innovative new devices and methods for in-space propulsion

The laboratory is capable of experimental ground-testing of full scale thrusters and components operating on traditional as well as advanced propellants.

Upper Left: Xenon Hall Thruster, Upper Right: Bismuth Hall Thruster, Lower Left: Magnesium Hall Thruster, Lower Right: Zinc Hall Thruster. (For a high resolution picture, please click here.)