ABSTRACT
Based on the source of energy, the nonchemical rocket engines can be classified into three categories: electrical rocket engine, nuclear rocket engine, and solar rocket engine. This chapter discusses extensively the basic principles of electrical rocket along with their respective design aspects and highlights their limitations. It presents the four important topics relevant to electric rockets: electrostatic force and its field, electromagnetic force and its field, ionization, and electric discharge behavior. All electrical rocket engines can be classified broadly into three categories: electrothermal, electrostatic, and electromagnetic. It can be noted that usual expansion of high-pressure and high-temperature gas through a nozzle is not used for producing thrust in case of electrostatic and electromagnetic rockets. The chapter discusses two categories of electrothermal thrusters, namely resistojet and arcjet. It also covers both solar and nuclear rocket engines as they are in the infancy state of development.
