Takahashi Masayuki, Yamada Toshiki, Minami Ryutaro, Kariya Tsuyoshi, Shimamura Kohei
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan.
Plasma Research Center, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, 305-8577, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2025 May 20;15(1):17544. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-02791-5.
Tractor millimeter-wave beam propulsion (TMiP), which obtains a propulsive force by receiving a high-power tractor beam from the front side of the vehicle, was proposed for space missions such as rocket launches from Earth and planetary takeoff missions. A beam irradiation experiment with a gyrotron device was conducted for a model rocket with a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) lens to collect the tractor beam power, facilitating gas breakdown and plasma generation at the focal point. A high-pressure gas was formed via plasma heating, interacting with the PTFE lens mounted on the front of the vehicle and generating a propulsive force for rocket launching. A parametric study was conducted by changing the pulse width, which showed that the maximum thrust performance was achieved when the plasma front propagating toward the beam source did not protrude from the air-breathing intake at the front of the vehicle. Additionally, computational simulations for electromagnetic wave propagation and compressible fluid dynamics indicated that the thrust performance could be improved by decreasing the rocket diameter due to shock wave concentration.
牵引毫米波束推进（TMiP）是一种通过从飞行器前端接收高功率牵引束来获得推进力的技术，它被提议用于诸如从地球发射火箭和行星起飞任务等太空任务。使用回旋管装置对带有聚四氟乙烯（PTFE）透镜的模型火箭进行了束照射实验，以收集牵引束功率，促进焦点处的气体击穿和等离子体产生。通过等离子体加热形成高压气体，该气体与安装在飞行器前端的PTFE透镜相互作用，产生用于火箭发射的推进力。通过改变脉冲宽度进行了参数研究，结果表明，当朝向束源传播的等离子体前沿未从飞行器前端的吸气口突出时，可实现最大推力性能。此外，电磁波传播和可压缩流体动力学的计算模拟表明，由于冲击波集中，减小火箭直径可提高推力性能。
