Overview
- Pulsar Fusion generated and confined plasma in its Sunbird exhaust system during a UK ground test that was streamed live to Amazon’s MARS Conference in California.
- The run validated the exhaust channel’s ability to hold and guide a hot plasma, a core function the company needs for its planned Dual Direct Fusion Drive engine.
- Engineers used krypton gas to create a stable, easily measured plasma so they could study how charged particles behave inside the exhaust structure.
- The company says next steps include thrust and exhaust‑velocity measurements, upgrades to high‑temperature superconducting magnets, experiments toward aneutronic fuels, and a targeted in‑orbit component demo in 2027.
- Pulsar envisions Sunbird as an orbital space‑tug that provides continuous thrust and onboard power, and it claims 10,000–15,000 seconds of specific impulse and about 2 megawatts of power, which remain unverified by independent tests.