WASHINGTON DC – IVO Ltd., a wireless power technology firm, is set to send an all-electric propulsion system for satellites to space for the first time in October.
The IVO Quantum Drive system was due to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as part of the rideshare mission Transporter 8 in June. However, delays in developing the company’s prototype led IVO to opt for sending their technology to space aboard SpaceX’s Transporter 9 later this year.
If it lives up to IVO’s expectations, the Quantum Drive could rewrite critical principles of physics that have been a cornerstone for the space industry since its inception.
IVO Ltd., founded in 2017, has been developing a pure electric thrust system for spacecraft, partly in a bid to tackle the space industry’s massive carbon footprint.
Their Quantum Drive builds on the idea of Quantized Inertia (QI) proposed by physicist Mike McCulloch, a professor at the University of Plymouth.
On his website, McCulloch writes that Isaac Newton’s First Law of Motion, which defines inertia by stating “objects move in straight lines at constant speed unless pushed on,” doesn’t fully describe what inertia is.
McCulloch devised his QI theory to explain the true nature of inertia via the strange properties of quantum mechanics. His theory has been widely criticized, with some physicists stating his proposal defies the laws of motion set out by Newton.
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