This relatively long transit time is a result of the use of traditional chemical rocket fuel. An alternative technology to the chemically propelled rockets the agency develops now is called nuclear ...

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) just hit a massive milestone that could alter the future of space exploration. The company has successfully trialed a nuclear fuel that could one day ...

In a groundbreaking development, Ohio State University has unveiled a new concept for nuclear thermal propulsion that could significantly cut down travel time to Mars. Building on past space ...

I’ve grown up with rockets that burn chemical fuel, but NASA’s next big leap in propulsion could make those engines look as dated as steam trains. By turning to nuclear power in space, the agency is ...

NASA plans to send crewed missions to Mars over the next decade – but the 140 million-mile (225 million-kilometer) journey to the red planet could take several months to years round trip. This ...

How can nuclear propulsion help improve deep space missions by significantly reducing the amount of time to reach Mars and beyond? This is what a recent study published in Acta Astronautica hopes to ...

The best, in fact, the only, candidate for this is the Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) system or nuclear rocket. First conceived of in 1945, this is a rocket that replaces burning chemical fuel with ...

James is a published author with multiple pop-history and science books to his name. He specializes in history, space, strange science, and anything out of the ordinary.View full profile James is a ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – New developments in nuclear thermal propulsion technologies may soon enable advanced space missions to the farthest reaches of the solar system. Leading these advances are researchers ...

Lockheed Martin and partner BWX Technologies were on contract to develop a nuclear thermal rocket through the DARPA-NASA DRACO program. Credit: Lockheed Martin NASA’s proposed fiscal 2026 budget would ...

TRISO-X LLC (“TRISO-X”), a wholly owned subsidiary of X-Energy Reactor Company, LLC (“X-energy”) that primarily develops and designs tri-structural isotropic (“TRISO”) particle fuel, today announced ...

The USA's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has finalised an agreement with Lockheed Martin to begin work on the fabrication and design of an experimental nuclear thermal rocket and its engine ...