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US-based BWX Technologies (BWXT) has been contracted to develop the reactor and fuel for the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA’s) Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO), which will use nuclear thermal propulsion. As part of a team led by Lockheed Martin, BWXT Advanced Technologies is to complete final design of the nuclear reactor, manufacture the reactor’s hardware and fuel, assemble the components and deliver the fuelled reactor as a complete subsystem.
- Source: NEI Magazine
- Date: Wednesday, 16 August 2023
- Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsbwxt-reactor-and-fuel-selected-for-darpa-space-project-11074621
NASA and the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) are to collaborate on development of advanced nuclear thermal propulsion technology for rocket engines. NASA and DARPA will partner on the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) programme with a view to enabling NASA crewed missions to Mars.
- Source: NEI Magazine
- Date: Friday, 27 January 2023
- Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsnasa-and-darpa-to-develop-nuclear-rocket-engines-10546261
The USA's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) are to collaborate on developing and demonstrating a nuclear thermal rocket engine in space by 2027.
- Source: World Nuclear News
- Date: Thursday, 26 January 2023
- Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/NASA-to-test-nuclear-nuclear-rocket-engine-for-man
NASA has marked the 60th anniversary of the launch into space of its first nuclear-powered satellite. Transit IV-A - an experimental navigational satellite with a radioisotope-powered generator - was launched by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory from Cape Canaveral on 29 June 1961, and NASA has since flown more than 25 missions carrying a nuclear power system.
- Source: World Nuclear News
- Date: Thursday, 01 July 2021
- Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/NASA-marks-60-years-of-nuclear-power-in-space
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) said on 11 June that it had recently awarded contracts to General Atomics (Track A, $22M) and Blue Origin (Track B, $2.5M) with Ultra Safe Nuclear Technologies (USNC-Tech) providing critical support to both prime contractors in the first phase of the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (Draco) programme. Draco will develop a nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) system for cislunar operations, targeting a full-scale, on-orbit demonstration in 2025. USNC-Tech is the only company participating in both Track A and Track B teams.
- Source: NEI Magazine
- Date: Wednesday, 23 June 2021
- Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsus-darpa-awards-contracts-for-draco-programme-8840312
Ultra Safe Nuclear Technologies (USNC-Tech) - a subsidiary of Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation (USNC) - is providing "critical support" to both prime contractors in the first phase of the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) programme to develop a nuclear thermal propulsion system (NTP) for cislunar operations. USNC-Tech is the only company participating in both tracks of the programme.
- Source: World Nuclear News
- Date: Saturday, 19 June 2021
- Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/USNC-subsidiary-supporting-cislunar-rocket-contrac
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) said on 9 April that it had awarded a $22 million contract to General Atomics to design a small nuclear reactor for space propulsion under the demonstration rocket for agile cislunar operations (Draco) project. “Cislunar” refers to space between the Earth and the moon. Draco, set up in 2020, aims to demonstrate nuclear thermal propulsion, namely, using a nuclear reactor to heat rocket fuel in order to generate thrust. In May 2020, Darpa’s Tactical Technology Office issued a “broad agency announcement” asking for proposals to test a nuclear thermal propulsion system in orbit by 2025.
- Source: NEI Magazine
- Date: Tuesday, 13 April 2021
- Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsgeneral-atomics-to-develop-nuclear-reactor-to-power-moon-missions-8663297
The US Administration has issued a new directive on the use of nuclear power and propulsion in space. Space Policy Directive-6 (SPD-6) establishes high-level goals, principles, roles and responsibilities, and a supporting roadmap demonstrating the nation's commitment to the safe, effective and responsible use of space nuclear power and propulsion (SNPP) systems.
- Source: World Nuclear News
- Date: Friday, 18 December 2020
- Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/US-Administration-issues-Space-Policy-Directive
The US Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have agreed to extend their existing cooperation by a further 10 years. One area for continued cooperation is space nuclear power and propulsion.
- Source: World Nuclear News
- Date: Thursday, 22 October 2020
- Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/US-DOE-extends-its-cooperation-with-space-agency