Bypass ratio the velocity of a very large volume and consequently mass of air produces a very large change in momentum and thrust: thrust is the engine's mass flow (the amount of air flowing through the engine) multiplied by the difference between the inlet and exhaust velocities in—a linear relationship—but the kinetic energy of the exhaust is the mass flow multiplied by one-half the square of the difference in velocities. A low disc loading (thrust per disc area) increases the aircraft's energy efficiency, and this reduces the fuel use. The Rolls–Royce Conway turbofan engine, developed in the early 1950s, was an early
Mass driver velocity would rather be around 62.75% of total mission delta v if operating at constant specific impulse, except greater optimization could come from varying exhaust velocity during the mission profile (as possible with some thruster types, including mass drivers and variable specific impulse magnetoplasma rockets). Since a mass driver could use any type of mass for reaction mass to move the spacecraft, a mass driver or some variation seems ideal for deep-space vehicles that scavenge reaction mass from found resources. One possible drawback of the mass driver is that it has the potential to send solid reaction mass travelling at