DARPA Kicks Off Design, Fabrication for DRACO Experimental NTR Vehicle
July 27, 2023 | DARPAEstimated reading time: 1 minute
DARPA, in collaboration with NASA, is advancing toward the goal of the world’s first in-orbit demonstration of a nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) engine via DRACO, the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations. DARPA has finalized an agreement with Lockheed Martin for the company to begin work on the fabrication and design of the experimental NTR vehicle (X-NTRV) and its engine.
“The DRACO program aims to give the nation leap-ahead propulsion capability,” said Dr. Tabitha Dodson, program manager for the effort. “An NTR achieves high thrust similar to in-space chemical propulsion but is two-to-three-times more efficient. With a successful demonstration, we could significantly advance humanity’s means for going faster and farther in space and pave the way for the future deployment for all fission-based nuclear space technologies.”
In January, DARPA and NASA signed an agreement to collaborate on the NTR engine, with a focus on more efficiently and quickly transporting material through the cislunar domain and eventually, people to Mars.
The DRACO program takes advantage of the nation’s early investments in nuclear thermal technology via the previous Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Applications (NERVA) program, but with a new fuel option that presents fewer logistical hurdles. DARPA is using high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel, made possible via National Security Presidential Memorandum 20 (NSPM-20), which updated U.S. policy for the launch of space nuclear power and propulsion. As an additional safety measure, DARPA will engineer the system so that the engine’s fission reactor will stay turned off until it reaches its designated orbit.
The U.S. Space Force will provide the launch vehicle that will take the X-NTRV into space in 2027. The Department of Energy will provide HALEU metal, to be processed into fuel by the performer. BWX Technologies (BWXT), one of Lockheed Martin’s partners in the effort, will develop the nuclear reactor and fabricate the HALEU fuel.
Suggested Items
Saki Set to Highlight Cutting-Edge Inspection Technology at SMTConnect 2024
05/15/2024 | Saki CorporationSaki Corporation, an innovator in the field of automated optical and X-ray inspection equipment, will be exhibiting at SMTConnect 2024 in Nuremberg, Germany from June 11-13. As a key highlight of the Selecs booth #235 in Hall 4, Saki will be showcasing its unique range of automated inspection solutions including the award-winning X-ray Automated Inspection System (AXI) and innovative ‘One Programming’ and AI Solutions Features.
Kitron Initiates Share Buyback
05/13/2024 | KitronKitron ASA initiates a share buyback in connection with remuneration to the board members.
Coherix Partners with EMU on 'Factory of the Future' Technology Program
05/08/2024 | PRNewswireMichigan-based Coherix is working with Eastern Michigan University (EMU) in Ypsilanti to develop "factory-of-the-future" manufacturing and assembly technology.
NASA Doubles Down, Advances 6 Innovative Tech Concepts to New Phase
05/03/2024 | NASAOne of the ‘science fiction-like’ concepts — for a lunar railway system to provide payload transport on the Moon — is being developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Sypris Receives New Releases Under Electronic Warfare Program
05/03/2024 | Sypris Electronics LLCSypris Electronics, LLC, a subsidiary of Sypris Solutions, Inc., announced that it has recently received additional releases under a multi-year production contract that was first announced in 2022. The order, which provides for Sypris to begin deliveries in 2024, calls for the manufacture and test of electronic assemblies for an additional four systems to be supplied to a U.S. DOD contractor.