Plasma Thruster

The Plasma Thruster is a common form of propulsion in the Galaxy. All major powers in known space use various forms of Plasma Thrusters as sublight engines as of the 24th century.

History
Plasma Thruster technology was developed independently by various races of the Galaxy. For the longest time, Plasma Thrusters were effective engines when already in space, but were mostly useless in situations with high gravity or atmospheric drag. As such, Plasma Thrusters were often supplemented by additional forms of propulsion in various factions until the Alliance of Systems improved the technology. These newer Plasma Thrusters were capable of landing and taking off on planetary bodies up to 1.3g surface gravity, given that the atmosphere was not too thick. This development almost made the Ancilicus Space Elevator obsolete. Despite the technological progress, planetary landing was still an expensive and energy-intensive operation that was left to dedicated cargo lifter spaceships.

Technology
The plasma thruster worked by spewing out superheated plasma from a fusion reactor. This plasma is accelerated by gauss rails to then be exjected in the preferred exhaust vector.

Variations
Various Allied Systems Federation shuttlecraft make use of variable-geometry dual impulse thrusters (VGDI) as control engines. These VGDI thrusters could rotate in any direction in its socket. These thrusters could accelerate atmospheric gases instead of plasma and could therefor only be used in an atmosphere. Collectors on top of the engine could suck in gases. The gases would then be accelerated to very high speeds and be thrusted out on the other side, creating a powerful and clean way of propulsion.