NASA, U.S. military to develop nuclear rocket

In an attempt that may be called a revolutionary technical breakthrough, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the U.S. Military will join hands to launch a nuclear-powered satellite in late 2025 or early 2026. The spacecraft will be sent to the Earth’s orbit.

DRACO

The project has been named DRACO or Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations and it aims to have an in-space test of Nuclear Thermal Propulsion or the NPT. Lockheed Martin will develop the spacecraft.


Talking to journalists at a press conference, Kirk Shireman, Vice President of Lockheed Martin Lunar Exploration Campaigns said that they will have great data and usher the U.S. and mankind into a new era.

DARPA

Initially, it was the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) that launched the program in 2021 and the NASA joined it in 2023. Actually, NASA thought about a manned Mars Mission aboard a nuclear-powered spacecraft in 1979. It was Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application or NERVA. But the NERVA project was scrapped.

Mars Mission

Now, NASA is working on a project to send a manned mission to Mars in late 2030 or early 2040. It considers thermal nuclear propulsion as a key technical breakthrough in that direction as it will slash time significantly.

A Nuclear Thermal rocket carries a small nuclear reactor that splits atoms and releases an incredible amount of heat energy, which is used to propellent to create the thrust for the rocket. It is different from the radioisotope thermoelectric generators which do not use heat to create thrust, rather they use the heat energy to generate electricity.

FAQs:

Q1:What is DRACO? Why is it important for space science?
NASA is working on a project to use nuclear thermal propulsion. It has been named DRACO or Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations and it aims to have an in-space test of Nuclear Thermal Propulsion or the NPT.

Q2:Why and how will NASA use nuclear thermal propulsion in its Mars Mission?
NASA is working on a project to send a manned mission to Mars in late 2030 or early 2040. It considers thermal nuclear propulsion as a key technical breakthrough in that direction as it will slash time significantly.