BEIJING, Jan. 11 (China Space News) — Researchers from China Academy of Space Technology, which operates under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation(CASC), have delivered a new-generation Hall-effect thruster unit recently.

They are typically found on communications satellites in high-altitude orbits for long-term service.

According to researchers involved in the project, the latest version will beat the current performance record of this kind of thruster by as much as 20 percent.