Nuclear spacecraft? NASA has tested Blue Origin, GE to test | Nuclear Energy News

NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy were awarded three $ 5 million contracts at some point to create design concepts for reactors that could be used to transport people and cargo to Mars.

Nuclear power has lost much of its momentum in much of the world, but the sky is the limit in terms of outer space.

The U.S. government is leveraging the expertise of Jeff Bezos ’Blue Origin space project, General Electric Hitachi Nuclear Power, and other companies to develop nuclear-powered spacecraft that can travel faster and farther – to Mars and beyond.

NASA and the Department of Energy have awarded three $ 5 million contracts to produce reactor design concepts that could be used to send people and cargo to Mars or push scientific missions to the outside of the solar system, the space agency said in a statement Tuesday.

Among the companies involved in this effort are Lockheed Martin Corp. and Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc. defense contractors and drone manufacturer General Atomics and BWX Technologies Inc. there are companies.

“These design contracts are important steps toward reactor hardware material to one day be able to drive new missions and exciting discoveries,” said Jim Reuter, associate administrator of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.

They are more efficient than standard rockets based on nuclear propulsion systems, which promises to travel faster for more ambitious missions and deeper into space, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Meanwhile, nuclear power currently produces about 10% of the world’s electricity, down from an 18% peak in the mid-1990s.

It may take several years to develop technology for space travel, as it faces significant barriers. While nuclear power plants have been used in submarines and aircraft carriers for decades, placing explosives on the rocket carries significant risks.

The nuclear space effort comes amid a resurgence of extraterrestrial activity, as the U.S. government explored Mars and organized the first manned mission to the moon in decades.

Meanwhile, companies backed by billionaires of celebrities are racing to market space tourism.

Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. conducted a suborbital test flight on Sunday with co-founder Richard Branson.

Bezos Amazon.com Inc. the founder plans to fly into space next week in a rocket made by Blue Origin.

General Electric Co. made a number of reactors from the 1970s and 1980s that get energy from boiling water and remain at the heart of the U.S. nuclear portfolio.

Recently, the company has specialized in smaller reactors that do not require the same infrastructure through a joint venture with Hitachi Ltd. In recent years, interest in higher nuclear energy has slowed due to the subsequent costs in Fukushima (Japan) and the backlash. , Melting in 2011.