To revolutionize space travel, NASA is aiming to develop a nuclear-powered rocket with the hope of demonstrating the technology in space as soon as 2027.

NASA plans on building the next-generation propulsion system with the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The goal is to use the technology to send human-crewed missions to Mars, which the space agency is hoping to achieve during the 2030s.

“With the help of this new technology, astronauts could journey to and from deep space faster than ever,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in announcing the partnership.

Current spacecraft rely on chemical propellant, such as liquid hydrogen and hydrazine, to take off from the planet and then maneuver in space. On the downside, this means the craft has to carry loads of fuel during the transit. A nuclear-powered propulsion system, on the other hand, promises to increase the energy efficiency by two to five times, according to NASA, while reducing the transit time for the astronauts on board.

“In a nuclear thermal rocket engine, a fission reactor is used to generate extremely high temperatures. The engine transfers the heat produced by the reactor to a liquid propellant, which is expanded and exhausted through a nozzle to propel the spacecraft,” NASA added.

Tuesday’s announcement means NASA is joining DARPA’s existing program to create and demonstrate a nuclear-powered rocket in space. The program, dubbed DRACO, has already been contracting with companies, including Blue Origin, to submit design proposals.

“Under the agreement, NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) will lead technical development of the nuclear thermal engine to be integrated with DARPA’s experimental spacecraft,” the space agency said. Meanwhile, DARPA will have the authority to contract out building the nuclear-powered craft and engine to private companies. The defense agency will also have final say on the experimental spacecraft that’ll ride the nuclear-powered rocket.

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“This partnership will take us one step closer as we dare to explore the unknown,” Nelson added. “Let us dare to ignite the future farther, faster, together.”

In the meantime, private company SpaceX has decided to stick with chemical fuel for its own Starship craft, which is being designed for missions to both the Moon and Mars.

By: DocMemory
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