MOSCOW, April 7. /TASS/. A prototype of an electrodeless plasma engine is being tested at the Kurchatov Institute National Research Center in a facility simulating space conditions, Mikhail Kovalchuk, President of the Kurchatov Institute, announced at a meeting of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences entitled Space as a Source of Scientific Knowledge, Progress, and Cooperation.

Earlier, the Kurchatov Institute National Research Center (NRC) announced it was developing a prototype of an electrodeless plasma engine. In the future, it could be used for missions to Mars and other planets.

"We’re working on this. We have a space simulation facility. It’s very large, almost 1,000 cubic meters, with a tremendous pumping speed. This electrodeless plasma <…> engine is installed there to test all its parameters," Kovalchuk said, adding that a demonstration of the installation’s operation took place on Monday at a meeting of the Kurchatov Institute’s Supervisory Board.