Abstract

Fission power is a promising technology, and it has been proposed for several future space uses. It is being considered for high-power missions whose goal is to explore the solar system and even beyond. Space fission power has made great progress when NASA’s 1 kWe Kilowatt Reactor Using Stirling TechnologY (KRUSTY) prototype completed a full power scale nuclear test in 2018. Its success stimulated a new round of research competition among the major space countries. This article reviews the development of the Kilopower reactor and the KRUSTY system design. It summarizes the current missions that fission reactors are being considered as a power and/or propulsion source. These projects include visiting Jupiter and Saturn systems, Chiron, and Kuiper belt object; Neptune exploration missions; and lunar and Mars surface base missions. These studies suggest that the Fission Electric Propulsion (FEP)/Fission Power System (FPS) is better than the Radioisotope Electric Propulsion (REP)/Radioisotope Power System (RPS) in the aspect of cost for missions with a power level that reaches ~1 kWe, and when the power levels reaches ~8 kWe, it has the advantage of lower mass. For a mission that travels further than ~Saturn, REP with plutonium may not be cost acceptable, leaving FEP the only choice. Surface missions prefer the use of FPS because it satisfies the power level of 10’s kWe, and FPS vastly widens the choice of possible landing location. According to the current situation, we are expecting a flagship-level fission-powered space exploration mission in the next 1-2 decades.

Highlights

  • At present, chemical energy [1–3] and solar energy [4–6] are the main forms of energy supply for space applications

  • Jupiter-Europa Orbiter (JEO) was originally designed with 5 Multimission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (MMRTGs) which is equivalent to 1 Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator (ASRG) of 500 We

  • These 6 particular Trojans were chosen because they have diverse spectral properties and are expected to represent well the remnants captured in the Sun-Jupiter Lagrangian points

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Summary

Introduction

Chemical energy [1–3] and solar energy [4–6] are the main forms of energy supply for space applications. Russia has revealed very little information on its progress but is believed to have been carrying out research on megawatt space reactor technology which is mainly based on Brayton thermoelectric transfer technology [37] It is planning a fission-powered spacecraft travelling to Mars mission perhaps around 2025. In 2017, the EuropeanRussian Megawatt Highly Efficient Technologies for Space Power and Propulsion Systems for Long-duration Exploration Missions (MEGAHIT) project [39] developed concepts of space, ground, and nuclear demonstrators. Space fission power can benefit national or planetary defense by supplying stable or pulsed high power, enhancing spacecraft’s mobility and serviceability, altering comet/asteroid orbit, and functioning along with airborne and terrestrial defense systems It shows commercial potential in space such as extending satellite use with much higher power, providing maintenance, mobility, retrieval, transition to prolong life span, and lower cost of one spacecraft. Thanks to NASA’s openness, scholars can follow and summarize these techniques and form a reference for relevant researches

Kilopower and KRUSTY Progress
Possible Planetary Exploration Missions with
MMRTGs 6 ASRGs
Possible Human Exploration Missions with Fission Power
Phase I
Phase II
Discussion on Mission Applicability of Fission Power
Conclusion
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