By Elizabeth Howell, Published by Space.com, 1 February 2023 The company is working with the UK Space Agency for nuclear power and propulsion options in spaceflight. A new image shows a possible version of future space propulsion. Nuclear fission systems, which harness the energy released in the splitting of atoms,
By Jeff Foust, Published by SpaceNews, 24 January 2023 WASHINGTON — NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency will cooperate on the development and flight demonstration of a nuclear propulsion system with applications for both national security and space exploration. During a special session of the AIAA SciTech Forum
Published by Universe Today, 17 January 2023 We live in an era of renewed space exploration, where multiple agencies are planning to send astronauts to the Moon in the coming years. This will be followed in the next decade with crewed missions to Mars by NASA and China, who may
By Leonard David, Published by Space.com, 15 December 2022 Some scientists say nuclear fusion propulsion is inevitable. But how far away is it, given recent breakthroughs? The announcement this week of fusion ignition is a major scientific advancement, one that is decades in the making. More energy was produced than
By Alex Hollings, Published by Sandboxx, 13 December 2022 In 2019, the U.S. Navy’s Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) filed a number of seemingly out-of-this-world patents that could, in theory, revolutionize not only military aviation, but just about everything. Chief among these strange new inventions is a High
By Baba Tamim, Published by Interesting Engineering, 10 December 2022 The world's first space battery fueled by Americium-241, a nuclear-based fuel, will be developed in cooperation between the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) and the U.K. Space Agency. This project will be carried out in a brand-new laboratory in Cumbria costing
UK Gov Press Release, 9 December 2022 The UK Space Agency and the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) are to collaborate on the world’s first space battery powered by Americium-241. This work, commissioned and funded by the UK Space Agency from NNL, will be delivered in a new £19 million laboratory
By Richard Tyler, Published by The Times, 11 November 2022 Operation Get It Up, a tiny plasma-based power system providing propulsion to a small cube satellite, will sit on top of a Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket due to be launched next month. It has been designed by engineers at the
