• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

US Plans To Launch A Nuclear Reactor Into Space For The First Time Since The 1960s

November 30, 2023 by Deborah Bloomfield

On April 3, 1965, NASA launched the Systems for Nuclear Auxiliary Power 10A (SNAP10A), the first nuclear electric propulsion system ever fired into space. While in orbit, the ion thruster system was powered by a space-worthy nuclear reactor. Now, nearly 60 years later, the US is planning to launch a nuclear reactor into space once again.

SNAP10A, designed to be capable of putting out a minimum of 500 watts for up to one year or longer, only operated for 43 days, before being shut down due to a fault in the Agena spacecraft. Since then, no other nuclear reactors have been sent by the US to keep it company on its predicted 4,000-year orbit, and only a few were launched by the Soviet Union. 

Advertisement

Now, decades later, the US Air Force Research Laboratory is funding a new spacecraft, paying Lockheed Martin, SpaceNukes, and BWX Technologies $33.7 million to design and develop a new nuclear spacecraft as part of the Joint Emergent Technology Supplying On-Orbit Nuclear (JETSON) High Power program.

Space is, famously, quite big. To explore it, you’ll need a lot of energy. This might not be a huge problem if you are sending a probe to the Sun, given that it’s a big ball of harvestable energy for any probe sensible enough to pack solar panels. But for missions where the Sun isn’t so close, and possibly even for crewed missions to Mars and beyond, the US is hoping that nuclear-powered spacecraft will be the answer. Though deep space probes like Voyager 1 and 2 used radioisotope thermoelectric generators, these use decaying plutonium to generate electricity, more like a nuclear battery than a nuclear-powered craft.

Solar arrays, Lockheed Martin stated in a press release, only generate around six lightbulbs worth of energy. JETSON will use a fission reactor to generate heat, which is then transferred to the Stirling engines to produce between 6 and 20 kilowatts of electricity. The company says this is four times the power of conventional solar arrays, without the added need to be in continuous sunlight.

The project is currently in the preliminary design review stage, with hopes of moving to the critical stage soon.

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. China Evergrande shares slide 6% in early trade
  2. French watchdog chief calls for ban on ‘payment for order flow’ in EU stock market
  3. Robots Are Performing Hindu Rituals – Some Devotees Fear They’ll Replace Worshippers
  4. Possible Hints Of Life Found On Distant Planet – How Excited Should We Be?

Source Link: US Plans To Launch A Nuclear Reactor Into Space For The First Time Since The 1960s

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • For 100 Years, A Stable 20-Electron Ferrocene Molecule Was Thought “Improbable” – Until Now
  • “I Saved A PNG Image To A Bird”: YouTuber Stores 176KB Drawing Of A Bird Inside A Bird’s Song
  • The Falkland Islands Wolf: The Tragic Tale Of The First Known Canid Humans Drove To Extinction
  • There’s A Forever Chemical That’s In Your Water, Food, And Blood — And Levels Are “Increasing Irreversibly”
  • “World’s Rarest Bear” Captured On Camera In Mongolian Desert – With A Baby!
  • Alligators Eat Rocks For An Incredibly Smart Reason
  • New Study Raises “Disturbing Prospect” About Alien Civilizations Using Dyson Swarms
  • The Khamar-Daban Incident Is So Strange It Is Known As “Buryatia’s Dyatlov Pass”
  • Zebroids, Zeedonks, Zorses, Zonies: Welcome To The World Of Zebra Hybrids
  • How Far Into The Universe Can You See With Your Naked Eye?
  • “Rarest Baryon Decay Ever Observed So Far” Found In Experiment That Wasn’t Even Looking For It
  • Scientists “Read Minds” By Opening The Brain’s “Filing Cabinet” Of Memories
  • 4,000-Year-Old Ancient Egyptian Handprint Discovered On “Soul House” Tomb Offering
  • Dogs Can Smell Parkinson’s Disease Years Before Symptoms Appear With Incredible Accuracy
  • The Longest-Reigning Monarch
  • Adorable Boxer Crabs Filmed “Cloning” Their Living Anemone Gloves For The First Time
  • Watch An Adorable Little Crab Hitch A Ride On A Mosaic Jellyfish Through The Gulf Of Thailand
  • COVID Vaccines Saved An Incredible 2.5 Million Lives In The First 4 Years Of The Pandemic
  • NASA Has Made A Sizable Error In Lunar And Martian Physics, Study Suggests
  • Disappearing Stars In The 1950s Associated With UAPs And Nuclear Weapons Tests
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version