Thruster

(aerospace engineering) A control jet employed in spacecraft; an example would be one utilizing hydrogen peroxide.

ˈthrǝstǝr n. 1. a small rocket engine on a spacecraft, used to make alterations in its flight path or altitude.

2. a secondary jet or propeller on a ship or offshore rig, used for accurate maneuvering and maintenance of position.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

The noun has 2 meanings:

Meaning #1: one who intrudes or pushes himself forward
  Synonym: pusher

Meaning #2: a small rocket engine that provides the thrust needed to maneuver a spacecraft

Look up thruster in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Contents 1 Spacecraft thrusters 2 Marine thrusters 3 Others

A thruster is a small propulsive device used by spacecraft and watercraft for station keeping, attitude control, or long duration low thrust acceleration.

Thruster (surfing) is a surfboard fin design.

Spacecraft thrusters

• Electrohydrodynamic thruster, using ionized air (only for use in an atmosphere)
• Electrostatic ion thruster, using high-voltage electrodes
• Hall effect thruster, type of ion thruster
• Ion thruster, beams of ions accelerated electrically
• Magnetoplasmadynamic thruster, electric propulsion using the Lorentz force
• Electrodeless plasma thruster, electric propulsion using ponderomotive force
• Pulsed inductive thruster, a pulsed form of ion thruster
• Pulsed plasma thruster, current arced across a solid propellant

Marine thrusters

• Azimuth thruster, pod underneath a ship, instead of a propeller and rudder
• Bow thruster, on the bow of a ship

Others

• Field Emission Electric Propulsion, very low power
• Monopropellant rocket
• Radioisotope rocket, using heat from radioactive decay
• Shkadov thruster, hypothetical megascale reaction for moving a star
• Spacecraft propulsion
• Magnetohydrodynamic drive
• Coal thruster, a 19th century profession

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