Fission power makes a lot of sense in terms of space travel. Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) engines are more efficient, can travel faster, and can carry heavier payloads. In the meantime, Lockheed Martin is hard at work developing an NTP engine for cislunar operations for DARPA’s DRACO program.
But fission can do much more than just propulsion, which is why the US military is paying Lockheed Martin, Space Nuclear Power Corp (SpaceNukes), and BWX Technologies, Inc. (BWXT) $33.7 million to begin designing a nuclear spacecraft as part of the Joint Emergent Technology Supplying On-Orbit Nuclear (JETSON) project.
This technology demonstrator will use nuclear fission to power Stirling engines that generate between 6 kWe and 20 kWe of electricity—according to Lockheed Martin, this provides four times the power of conventional solar arrays without the need for constant sunlight. This method is directly derived from NASA‘s Kilopower Reactor Using Stirling Technology (KRUSTY) experiment, which investigated how to provide electricity via nuclear power for future Moon and Mars outposts.
“Nuclear fission development for space applications is key to introducing technologies that could dramatically change how we move and explore in the vastness of space,” Barry Miles, JETSON program manager and principal investigator at Lockheed Martin, said in a press statement.
US military funds nuclear spacecraft for enhanced space force capabilities
At launch, the fission engine is inactive and will not be activated until the JETSON spacecraft is in a safe, non-decaying Earth orbit. Once the fission reactor generates this energy, the electricity will power Hall-effect thrusters (a type of ion thruster that is electrified to generate acceleration), which are already in use on the company’s LM2100 satellites. While fission will provide the electricity necessary for acceleration, it will also provide power for onboard systems and payloads—a one-stop shop for all of the spacecraft’s energy needs.
This will be the first time a nuclear reactor has been launched into space by the United States military since 1965 when the SNAP-10A experimental nuclear-powered satellite (also the first ion thruster ever in space) was launched. The spacecraft, according to Lockheed Martin, will “enhance maneuver and power capabilities, shaping future space force operations,” and is currently in the preliminary design review stage.
Aside from Lockheed Martin, Intuitive Machines of Houston was awarded $9.4 million to develop a spacecraft powered by a compact radioisotope power system, and Westinghouse Government Services of South Carolina was awarded funds to investigate high-power fission systems for future spacecraft.
The role of fission on Earth is complicated, but when it comes to space, the technology appears to be a no-brainer.
