Thrust Measurement of Extreme Ultraviolet Photoablation

Photoablation propulsion is effective for adjusting or re-entering space debris. Short-wavelength light offers advantages for generating thrust efficiently. We measured thrust from ablating an aluminum pendulum with intense pulsed extreme ultraviolet (XUV) radiation for the first time. The momentum coupling coefficient was 1.48 × 10-5 N/W at a scaling parameter I λ ̛√τ of 10, lower than cutoff values reported with 248nm laser ablation in previous works. Our findings suggest the potential for efficient propulsion through XUV photoablation.