The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is to develop an advanced propellant-less propulsion system and compact ultra-high-energy storage devices using the unresolved Ampere Tension forces in composite conductors. Currently, there is no viable propulsion system for satellites and interplanetary spacecraft that only use the spacecraft power bus to generate propulsion. Plus, no energy storage devices can directly use Ampere Tension forces in solid non-elastic materials to store energy or strengthen the material. Currently, feasible methods for launching spacecraft into an orbit require large amounts of stored energy as combustible fuel to get spacecraft into space. These limitations have restricted the access to space to multi-billion-dollar corporations and nation-states. This technology that results from this research could transform how we get into space and store energy using compact, lightweight ceramic materials. This technology could open space to individuals, small companies, and small research groups that are now restricted from doing research in space due to the high cost of getting spacecraft into space and storing the energy for space travel. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project proposes researching the conditions that allow the unresolved Ampere Tension forces to be observed and exploited to create propellant-less propulsion and energy devices with almost infinite energy storage capacity. The research proposed in this project is to determine under what condition Ampere Tension forces are present and how these forces can be used to create a spacecraft propellant-less propulsion and energy storage devices that are not limited by a chemical reaction in materials electrolytic. The project aims to determine the conditions that allow the unresolved forces to be observed and used to create an external force on a conductor directly from the electric current and the conditions that these same forces can store electrical energy directly into a ceramic material directly from an electric current. The innovation proposed here is to create a brand-new energy technology as a spacecraft propulsion device and energy storage device that operates only on electricity and does not need any fuel or chemical energy. In so doing, this innovation could transform current methods of launching into space and energy storage methods. Satellites using this technology would not need to include volume for fuel or chemical batteries and could use that extra space to increase the functionality of the spacecraft. Similarly, interplanetary spacecraft could maneuver using just the power bus and operate for decades without limiting the mission due to limited propellant supplies or energy storage limitations.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
