Nuclear Rocket

The Russian space agency has just announced plans to build a nuclear powered rocket for missions to Mars. Anatoly Perminov, the chief of the Russian space agency, said that preliminary designs for the rocket will be finished in 2012, and in total the project will take nine years and nearly $600 million to complete. Due to the light-weight nature of a nuclear-fuel system, missions into deep space will be more feasible. However, the international community fears that a launch explosion could result in a possible world-wide nuclear radiation emergency.

As the US has begun shutting down its shuttle program, the Russian space agency—referred to as Roscosmos—is stepping up its pace of space exploration.

In his announcement to the public, Perminov said, “The implementation of this project will allow us to reach a new technological level surpassing foreign developments. Perminov also noted that the rocket could be used for manned missions to Mar. Furthermore, the Roscosmos website claims that the rocket would hopefully help the agency to create “planetary outposts.”

The program is being backed by Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who is also pushing the Russian government to find the money needed to complete the program. The program is looking to have a megawatt-scale nuclear reactor in this new rocket that would power an on-board electric engine. The idea for this type of aircraft dates back to the 1960’s when Roscosmos first pushed forth plans for a nuclear-powered rocket for missions to Mars.

In deep space, the Russians believe that nuclear reactors would be twice as efficient as conventional engines and would open up a galaxy of options for space exploration.

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