  A new concept for generation of thrust for space propulsion is introduced.
Energetic thrust is generated in the form of plasmoids (confined plasma in
closed magnetic loops) when magnetic helicity (linked magnetic field lines) is
injected into an annular channel. Using a novel configuration of static
electric and magnetic fields, the concept utilizes a current-sheet instability
to spontaneously and continuously create plasmoids via magnetic reconnection.
The generated low-temperature plasma is simulated in a global annular geometry
using the extended magnetohydrodynamic model. Because the system-size plasmoid
is an Alfvenic outflow from the reconnection site, its thrust is proportional
to the square of the magnetic field strength and does not ideally depend on the
mass of the ion species of the plasma. Exhaust velocities in the range of 20 to
500 km/s, controllable by the coil currents, are observed in the simulations.
