Ultrafast-laser driven plasma for space propulsion ("mars in weeks")

It is a new type of electric rocket, based on laser-driven plasma wakefield accelerators (which exist and are being developed for particle accelerators). It does not exist as a rocket engine; it hasn't been scaled for that, but it appears to be practical. It would be an extremely powerful and efficient electric rocket, with exhaust plasma achieving speeds of 100 million to 1 billion km/hour.

Key points:

* Extremely compact, efficient particle accelerator

* Specific impulse of 3e6 seconds (30,000 km/s), at very low thrust

* (that is >30 times better than any working ion or plasma thruster)

* Thrust can scale, probably

* Would allow interstellar travel in hundreds of years (vs. tens of thousands)

Not much on wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_acceleration

Competing electric rockets (which actually exist):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_thruster

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_Specific_Impulse_Magn...