Popov led research into a new generation of electric rocket engines at the Moscow Aviation Institute and headed its applied electrodynamics research institute.
Harry Popov, an academic of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a specialist in electric rocket propulsion, has died at 91. The Moscow Aviation Institute, where he studied and worked, announced his death.
Popov led theoretical, design and experimental research into a new generation of electric rocket engines. Such engines create thrust by accelerating electrically charged particles, allowing spacecraft to use fuel more efficiently. The institute said his research formed the basis for high-efficiency propulsion systems used in modern spacecraft.
He graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute in 1959 and began his career as a department assistant. Popov earned a doctorate in technical sciences in 1982. Five years later, he became head of the institute’s State Research Institute of Applied Electrodynamics. He was elected to the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2008.
Electric propulsion is used in spacecraft where long operating life and efficient fuel use are priorities. Popov’s research focused on developing practical propulsion systems for that work.