Three months to Mars: nuclear-electric engines will greatly speed up flights across the solar system

Ad Astra and Space Nuclear Power Corporation have joined forces to create a combined nuclear-electric propulsion system to accelerate flights around the solar system. The plasma propulsion system is handled by Ad Astra, and the nuclear decay energy source is handled by SpaceNukes. Testing of the prototype is expected at the end of the decade, with commercialization beginning by the mid-30s, which will dramatically reduce flight times to Mars and beyond.

Image source: techspot.com

Ad Astra has been designing VASIMR electric (plasma) rocket engine systems for more than 20 years. The VASIMR engine or variable specific impulse magnetoplasma rocket, like any other ion rocket engine, works by using powerful electromagnetic fields to ionize and accelerate the fuel (working fluid), creating a high-speed plasma ejection.

Plasma or ion engines are economical, but their thrust is very low. The problem with weak thrust can be solved by a powerful power source, the choice of which, by the way, does not depend on ion engines – any one will do. The VASIMR engine requires power supplies of several hundred kilowatts. The VASIMR VX-200 prototype, for example, requires 200 kW of input power. Neither radioisotope power sources nor solar panels—the energy basis of modern astronautics—can provide similar or higher power.

Now SpaceNukes decides to support Ad Astra. In 2018, it showed a prototype of a portable space nuclear reactor with a power of 1 kW and promised to introduce a 10 kW source of electricity with an operating time of at least 10 years. Joining efforts will make it possible to create an integrated nuclear-electric power plant for spacecraft. If the companies’ plans are implemented, it will be possible to reach Mars and return back in a matter of months, instead of about two years, as is possible with modern chemical fuel engines.