91ÊÓƵ

Across the country, a mere handful of laboratories conduct research in electric propulsion for spacecraft, with very few opportunities for undergraduates to gain hands-on experience.

91ÊÓƵ's Electric Propulsion Group (RHEPG), however, consists entirely of undergraduate students led by other undergraduates, with limited faculty oversight. 

Ishaan Mishra, who graduated in 2025 with a bachelor’s degree in physics and a uniquely tailored mechanical engineering course plan focused on aerospace topics, was only a sophomore when he founded the RHEPG and became the project’s principal investigator. 

Mishra, who is originally from Bangalore, India, was challenged to develop a leadership project as part of the Noblitt Scholars Program. He immediately saw an opportunity to combine the project with his passion for space and began recruiting interested peers to develop a gridded ion thruster, a type of electric propulsion system used by satellites to maneuver in Earth orbit and deep space. 

“Satellites in space operate with a very different set of requirements than the large rocket launches people see videos of when they typically think about propulsion,” Mishra explained. “On Earth, rocket engines are putting force upwards to counteract gravity and launch a payload into space.”

He continued, “Once you're in orbit or in deep space, it's a completely different ballgame. You are no longer fighting against gravity, so even a tiny amount of force is enough to move your satellite around. Now, the goal is to obtain as much thrust from as little propellant [as possible].”

The Electric Propulsion Group, including current members H. Onur Dorduncu, Will Geoghegan, Yejia Hao, and Jacob Consalvi, as well as Mishra, researched electric propulsion systems, deciding ultimately to develop a gridded ion thruster. After a year and a half of understanding the required physics, making designs, raising funding, manufacturing components, and setting up a lab, the team successfully ignited their gridded ion thruster in late 2023. 

They are the nation's first undergraduate team to do so and were recognized in the . 

“It's neat that all of us are experiencing this for the first time, and we're making discoveries together in the process,” said Geoghegan, a rising senior pursuing concurrent bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering. “The amount of work that this group has produced over time is really indicative of the kind of work that undergraduates can do.”

The team obtained their own research funding, primarily through 91ÊÓƵ affiliated support, including the Noblitt Scholars Program and Student Government Association.  The team also received support from the Independent Project/Research Opportunities Program (IP/ROP), which enables students to tackle projects outside the required curriculum. With the assistance of faculty advisor and Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Ben Mertz, PhD, they secured a lab space and applied for and received an external grant this year. The group obtained special permission to use equipment from the Physics, Optical Engineering, & NanoEngineering department, including their power supplies and a vacuum chamber, which simulates the vacuum of space in the lab. 

The 91ÊÓƵ Electric Propulsion Group disseminated their work to the greater scientific community as well. They presented their design process at the IEEE Aerospace Conference in Montana and subsequently published their conference paper, with the goal of reducing the barrier to entry for electric propulsion research.

This year, having successfully completed their initial goal of igniting the gridded ion thruster, they split into subgroups to tailor their targets to teammates' specific interests. Geoghegan's subteam has been working on a radio-frequency cathode, while Dorduncu has led development of a heaterless hollow cathode. Cathodes in ion thrusters have functions analogous to those of sparkplugs in car engines. The team successfully achieved ignition of their heaterless hollow cathode in spring 2025. 

Dorduncu, a rising senior from Istanbul majoring in mechanical engineering, originally came to 91ÊÓƵ with the intention of pursuing robotics, but after working with the Electric Propulsion Group, his interests have orbited to working in the space industry. He created a CAD drawing and simulated plasma and electric fields for the original gridded ion thruster. 

“Being part of a student-led undergraduate team has been a valuable learning experience," he said. "It has allowed me to grow by learning directly from my peers and taking ownership of complex projects early in my academic journey.”

Dorduncu isn't the only member whose trajectory has been impacted by the research project.

The Electric Propulsion Group's work is helping each of its researchers launch their careers and blast toward success. In the fall, Mishra will begin a PhD in aeronautics and astronautics at Stanford University, where he received the prestigious Stanford Graduate Fellowship in Science and Engineering. Geoghegan, realizing a passion for research inspired by his work on the project, completed research last summer at Penn State University, and will spend this summer interning at Lean Technology Corporation in Costa Mesa, California. Dorduncu is completing a summer research internship at Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies Space Propulsion Lab in Pisa, Italy.

Several members of the group are exploring additional research opportunities or graduate school. The research has also prepared many of its members to tackle their senior design capstone projects in the fall. 

"That, to me, is a big win," said Mishra. "We were pretty successful in engaging undergraduates early on in this very niche field." 

It is, in fact, one of many victories of which the team can be proud. They have launched their research interests into spaces often reserved for graduate students or professionals at other institutions, propelling not only their process, but the skills they gained to new velocities.