[sandworm101]

For the power required to generate minimal thrust, this will not be useful in low orbit. The solar panels required to power the drive would result in more drag than the truster might overcome. So no market. And this test flight will not result in a clearcut "it stays up" rather "it fell slower than expected". There will be much calculation and debate re drag, magnetics and gravitational anomolies, so small are the expected forces.

To get a clear result we need something out closer to geostationary, flying for months well away from the earth's irregularities.

[JumpCrisscross]

> For the power required to generate minimal thrust, this will not be useful in low orbit

A recent paper [1] quotes this system's predicted efficiency at 1.2 mN/kW. Hall thrusters, a propellant-throwing electric engine, perform at 60 mN/kW. Non-propellant systems like light sails, laser propulsion and photon rockets perform around 0.0033 to 0.0067 mN/kW.

If this works, and that's a big if, a 50x performance improvement over the prototype is not unrealistic.

[1] https://regmedia.co.uk/2016/11/09/q_thruster.pdf

[sandworm101]

But how big will the panels need be? And how much extra aerodynamic drag will they create in a low orbit?