Water-Powered Propulsion Aims for Deep-Space Breakthrough

General Galactic plans to launch a 1,200-pound satellite on a SpaceX Falcon 9 in October that uses only water as propellant, testing both an electrolysis-driven electrical thruster and a hydrogen-oxygen chemical thruster. If successful, it could pave the way for in-space refueling and long-range missions by harvesting water on the Moon or Mars; however, water-based propulsion faces challenges like corrosion, added mass, and typically lower exhaust speeds, meaning the test must prove practical thrust for deep-space travel.