Discussion on Momentum Transfer Difficulty of a Magnetoplasma Sail

MINI-MAGNETOSPHERIC plasma propulsion (M2P2), also known as magnetoplasma sail (MPS), was proposed as a candidate for near-future space propulsion [1]. An MPS spacecraft is expected to capture the solar wind energy in interplanetary space by an artificial magnetosphere to generate a thrust force. A significant feature of an MPS is the deployment of the magnetic field inflation in space for creating a large artificial magnetosphere. With this magnetic field inflation method, a small magnetosphere created by onboard superconducting coils can be inflated to a larger magnetosphere by injecting a plasma jet from an MPS spacecraft.