By Izentis LLC
Izentis is a world leader in beamed energy propulsion technology. Our team has experience in both the theoretical and experimental aspects of the technology. This includes publishing papers on heat exchanger technology and building test rocket vehicles. The concept of beamed energy propulsion is to use an external energy source such as a ground-based laser or microwave to power a rocket. This removes the energy limitation of chemical rockets allowing for both high thrust and high specific impulse. Such technology could allow for single-stage-to-orbit launch vehicles with significant structural margins, enabling "jetliner-like" re-usability. A fully re-usable launch vehicle could yield launch costs well below $100/pound, which will radically change access to space. The cost to low-earth orbit is the dominant driver in the high costs of space missions, and reducing this cost by orders of magnitude will be a game changer for all space missions. The idea behind beamed energy propulsion is try to combine the best of chemical and electric rockets. By beaming the energy from the ground to the rocket, the power supply mass is irrelevant, and there is practically no theoretical limit on how much energy can be beamed to the rocket. It may be possible to heat a propellant to extreme temperatures or ionize it and accelerate it to 10,000-100,000 m/s enabling much higher structural margins and airliner-like re-usability. That is the goal or beamed energy propulsion and an active area of research by Izentis.
