Could someone make a high-altitude air-breathing ion engine?

[Fireheart318]

I saw this video by Scott Manley where he went over an ion engine that collects air from the upper atmosphere and uses it as fuel to stay in orbit. I think this could have some rather... interesting uses in KSP. Things such as ICBMs and crafts for traveling to and from a planet's moons. It would also be cool if we could store some of the gas in tanks for use in orbit.

 

Here's the video - 

 

[Dankgum]

This is actually quite easy to make. Simply clone an ion engine, maybe increase its thrust and make it so it uses intake air.

[Fireheart318]

15 hours ago, Dankgum said:

This is actually quite easy to make. Simply clone an ion engine, maybe increase its thrust and make it so it uses intake air.

But what about the actual intakes? They don't function that high up and I don't have the skill or knowledge to make a new resource or intake

[ARS]

Look at the part config file for jet engine, see what the resource required. Now copy the line containing air intake resource into the copied ion engine config file

Fun fact: back then during earlier version of KSP, when air intake is actual resource, you can use jet engine in space by closing intake just before entering stall zone and intake air is dropping. It'll "trap" the air inside it, so technically you "have" air for using jet engine, even in space

[Dankgum]

7 hours ago, Fireheart318 said:

But what about the actual intakes? They don't function that high up and I don't have the skill or knowledge to make a new resource or intake

Copy the 'AirIntake' module from an air intake, there should probably be an altitude thing. Also, making a resource is easy,  just use a config from the /resource folder. I can provide more detailed instructions later if you want, but I'm currently on mobile.

[MaximumThrust]

I find the idea very interesting, but I don't think it would play well in the stock KSP mechanics. You would need to stay bellow 70 km, with the vessel loaded, and limited to the physical time warp. Close to 70 km the decay is very slow, could take a huge amount of time to decay with normal ion engines and some fuel. Vessels in the background don't decay (right now I have a annoying debris with Pe. of 47 km).

Would play very well with some kind of background orbital decay and station keeping, like in this mod: