GA-EMS to design nuclear thermal propulsion system for DRACO mission 19 Apr 2021 (Last Updated April 19th, 2021 15:26) The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has contracted General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) to design a Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) system. Share Article The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has contracted General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) to design a Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) system. The NTP is part of DARPA’s Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) programme. The company will lead the design of the system, which will be demonstrated on-orbit to allow a rocket to operate in ‘cislunar space’ by 2025.