When it comes to space exploration, one of the biggest obstacles to overcome is the need for sufficient thrust to not just get objects off of Earth, but to generate sufficient speed to get them where they are going.

Current technologies require the use of a powerful propellant (typically rocket fuel) to be burned to generate the necessary thrust.

While the propellant creates a powerful thrust, it is also very heavy.

This means that to put anything in space, a large amount of the fuel being burned is needed to lift the fuel itself.

Former NASA engineer Dr. Charles Buhler co-founded Exodus Propulsion Technologies to attempt to solve this issue.

They have since filed for a patent for a system that they claim can generate enough force to lift an object off the the surface of the Earth without any propellant.

The patent says that they are able to generate the needed force using asymmetrical electrostatic pressure. The patent reads:

“The applied voltage difference creates an electric field resulting in an electrostatic pressure force acting on at least one surface of an object. Asymmetries in the resulting electrostatic pressure force vectors result in a net resulting electrostatic pressure force acting on the object.”

To put it simply, the technology uses electrostatic pressure to force an object in the desired direction.

Dr. Buhler discussed this patent, saying:

“The most important message to convey to the public is that a major discovery occurred. This discovery of a new force is fundamental in that electric fields alone can generate a sustainable force onto an object and allow center-of-mass translation of said object without expelling mass.”

In their tests, it was only possible to move small objects, though it may be possible to scale it up to operate on larger things.

Even if the discovery is only able to generate a relatively small amount of force compared to traditional engines, it may still be very significant. This is because in the vacuum of space, sustained force can result in significant speeds over time.

If the resulting technology could produce just 1G of force, it could also allow engineers to use it to generate artificial gravity on spaceships or stations to allow more Earth-like living conditions.

Of course, a lot of work still has to be done in order to prove (or disprove) this claim. Many scientists are very skeptical and believe that there is likely an unaccounted-for force that is generating the results.

If this discovery turns out to be true, it could revolutionize spaceflight.

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