What is the maximum thrust an Ion Engine can achieve?

How much thrust can I get from a 1 gigawatt ion engine?

• Answer:

  Deep Space 1 had a thrust of 92 milliNewtons (0.092N) at 2.1 kW, but it also had an Isp one order of magnitude above most chemical rocket fuels (3100 versus 200-400 for chemical fuels), so the answer above is about the same. That compares with the solid rocket boosters on a Delta II launch vehicle (or 1/2 of the main engine on a Delta II). 2 GigaWatts of Xenon Ion engine = 1 Delta II (no solids) Of course with economies of scale, and more power to be had for an ion engine, I'll bet they could be made much more efficient, so 1 GW might exceed one fully strapped Delta II, or even more. .