Abstract
Microwave rocket is a millimeter-wave beamed energy propulsion (BEP) rocket. The thrust impulse is generated by the millimeter-wave discharge induced in the thruster. The millimeter-wave discharge forms self-organized spatial structures depending on the gas pressure, the millimeterwave frequency, and the local electric field amplitude. In the thruster, the plasma is ignited at the focal point of the parabolic mirror installed at the thruster head. The ionization front of the discharge then propagates in the collimated beam where the electric field amplitude lower than the ionization threshold. We observed the time history of the discharge structure at the focal point of the parabolic mirror and in the collimated beam using a 303 GHz gyrotron as a beam source.
