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- This does sound like something out of a steampunk SF novel! They do not tell how the device is powered. (It takes energy, heat, to create steam from water, as well as to extract the ice from rock and melt it and purify it.) Where does this energy come from? Unless the rocket is solar powered, it would not last forever, but only as long as the batteries or nuclear power plant lasted. Still is a cool idea!
This Steam-Powered Spacecraft Could Travel the Solar System Forever
The spacecraft could harvest water from moons and asteroids to generate unlimited fuel.
The more common idea is to break the water into hydrogen and oxygen, using solar electricity, then burn the hydrogen-oxygen mix as rocket fuel. Hydrogen-oxygen rocket fuel is quite efficient -- it has been used in many rockets over time. I do not know if using the same energy to heat the water into steam to drive the rocket is more efficient, but it may well be.Peace,*L*