Page 7 - Demonstration Rocket News Today

Nasa craft uses reactor so powerful it will not be turned on inside Earth's atmosphere

The United States is looking to make history and launch the first nuclear-powered rocket engine into space in as soon as four years.

Called DRACO, the in-space propulsion system could revolutionize the way we travel to distant locations.

As NASA shifts its gaze back to the Moon and sets its sights on Mars and beyond in the coming decades, the agency is rethinking the means by which we’ll get there. After previously announcing a collaboration between NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for a nuclear-powered rocket intended for long-distance space travel, the two agencies have now selected Lockheed Martin to develop a demonstration.

The in-space flight demonstration of a nuclear thermal rocket engine vehicle will take place no later than 2027.

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

/PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has won a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop and demonstrate a...

Weapons maker Lockheed Martin has been awarded a contract by a U.S. Department of Defense agency to develop a nuclear-powered spacecraft for the purposes of exploration and national defense, the...

NASA and DARPA have chosen aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin to develop a spacecraft with a nuclear thermal rocket engine. Announced in January, the partnership — also including BWX Technologies, which will provide the reactor and fuel — is part of an initiative dubbed the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO). The agencies aim to showcase the tech no later than 2027 with an eye toward future Mars missions.

NASA and the US military said Wednesday they had selected defense contractor Lockheed Martin to develop a nuclear powered rocket, with a view to using the technology for missions to Mars."These more powerful and efficient nuclear thermal propulsion systems can provide faster transit times between destinations," said Kirk Shireman, vice president of Lunar Exploration Campaigns at Lockheed Martin Space.