Thrust measurements of microwave-, superconducting- and laser-type emdrives

Propellantless propulsion concepts based on electromagnetic waves like the EMDrive are claimed to be far superior with respect to the state of the art in spacecraft propulsion systems. Such devices consist of enclosed cavities with different geometric shapes that are injected with electromagnetic waves, producing unidirectional thrust without expelling propellant. Additional concepts emerged from theories like quantised inertia and involve laser-type EMDrives with optical cavity resonators and fiberoptic loops in the infrared spectrum. Claimed forces of these devices in the micronewton range are confronted with growing scepticism when basic conservation laws are applied. With cutting-edge measurement devices, we were able to characterize these concepts in a space-like environment with nanonewton resolution for thruster masses of up to 10 kg. Additionally, we enhanced our inverted double pendulum thrust balance with the ability to perform thrust measurements at cryogenic temperatures (65 K) to also operate a superconducting EMDrive that was claimed to have orders of magnitude higher thrust compared to classical resonators. In this paper, we present changes to each setup, based on criticism to our latest results, as well as thrust measurements of each device. Neither the EMDrive cavities nor the infrared laser resonators created a net-thrust above our balance noise. With the exception of the superconducting EMDrive, our data limits anomalous thrust below the threshold of classical propulsion with photon pressure for equivalent power-levels. Despite the enhancements made to each device, we did not detect any evidence in favour of the proposed theories.

Automated summary

Propellantless propulsion concepts based on electromagnetic waves, such as the EMDrive, claim to be far superior in spacecraft propulsion systems but lack experimental evidence to support these theories.