A research group from two Beijing, China universities is developing maglev technology to launch spaceships into orbit at a fraction of the cost of current rocket departure methods. A spaceship would be magnetically levitated over a track and up an incline, and lift off when it reaches a velocity of 620 miles/hour. [source link] Researchers at NASA are also apparently investigating similar technology. [source]

Another fascinating propulsion possibility are lasers. The Department of Defense has invested in developing battlefield viable lasers beyond 100kW solid state by 2009, but the same technology could allegedly be used for pushing satellites and probes to Mars in days rather than months. [for more information, click here.] [Thanks, Futurismic]