There are dozens of potential technology combinations that could ultimately be used for ultra-high temperature and multi-megawatt space fission power systems – SpaceNukes’ has created numerous conceptual designs to evaluate most of these possibilities. Some concepts appear better than others, but we (all of us) do not have enough expertise to know which advanced system can be realistically developed, or where space reactor evolution will take us. The only thing we (SpaceNukes) are confident of is that nuclear thermal rockets (NTRs) will never be functionally deployed (the cost and time of development will be too high). Alternatively, any steps we take with fission power systems advance us towards both colony-supporting surface power systems and rapid-transit multimegawatt NEP reactors.

 

Truth #1: space reactor evolution to increased temperatures and higher powers will create Earth-shattering capabilities (more like Earth-shunning, i.e. independence from Earth).

 

Truth #2: history shows us that we will never reach these capabilities unless we evolve from simpler systems.

 

Conclusion: We need to focus on the first step – to deploy a simple fission system in space, which will give us the capability and experience to take the subsequent steps.