Metasystems for Space Plasma Propulsion and Emerging Applications: New Fabrication Strategies, Coupled Architectures and Structured Plasma Elements

This perspective consolidates recent advances that position plasma and metamaterials as a unified metasystem for next-generation space micropropulsion systems. The need for new approaches arises because advanced small form-factor satellites and propulsion systems face physical and technological limits of conventional methods, including restricted scalability, limited electromagnetic control, and insufficient efficiency for complex and long-duration missions. These causes motivate the implementation of concepts based on metamaterials, plasma-based subsystems used in unconventional ways, and engineered ionized media. The paper integrates three complementary domains: plasma-enabled fabrication of complex metamaterials, engineered plasma–metamaterial interaction for controlled electromagnetic environments, and structured plasmas functioning as metamaterials with tunable effective properties. Emerging examples include metasurface-assisted waveguides for compact plasma sources, plasma-induced transparency platforms, machine learning-optimized metamaterial absorbers, and inverse-designed plasma metamaterials. Advances in plasma-based additive manufacturing and hierarchical material synthesis further expand the design space for multifunctional architectures, enabling adaptive, efficient and miniaturized propulsion concepts for CubeSat-class and small-satellite systems.