Abstract
Interstellar travel requires high specific impulse propulsion systems for manned mis sions to be completed within a person’s lifetime. Current rocketry technologies restrict these types of manned missions due to the energy release per unit mass limitation of the most advanced energy production systems available today. The most advanced ch emical (liquid or solid) rockets are not the answer for interstellar travel due to the limited energy available in chemical combustion. An exotic reaction that is being considered is the annihilation of matter and antimatter. The energy release from this t ype of reaction is more than eight orders of magnitude higher than the most advanced chemical rocket. This study will evaluate and compare different matter/antimatter propulsion systems such as pion (proton antiproton) annihilation rockets, arbitrary nucle i annihilation rockets and the Interstellar RAMjet using a fully relativistic formulation. Mission analyses for these types of propulsion systems are going to be performed via analytical simulations to size the propulsion systems. A comparison of different design concepts to evaluate mass ratios, technology readiness, and risk was performed.
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