SpaceX is no longer content to just launch hardware into orbit; it now wants to recreate key parts of the space environment in its own lab. By building a proton particle accelerator, the company is ...

This sample of niobium has been treated in a process that is typical for preparing particle accelerator components. Tests have revealed how adding oxygen to such components makes them more efficient.

There is technology being perfected to make particle accelerators 100-1000 times lower cost. This would enable production of nuclear material for space propulsion that could reach up to 0.5% of light ...