Current engine technology does not meet performance needs for economical earth to orbit missions. Existing engines cannot support the necessary structural mass fractions for inclusion of redundant and robust systems for safe and economic flights to orbit. The nuclear electric airbreathing propulsion concept defined within has the potential for breakthrough leaps in propulsive efficiency. These higher efficiencies will create major savings in ground operations requirements through the use of an engine that can support an economical single stage to orbit reusable launch vehicle. This proposal defines a road map of tasks to be completed to prove the feasibility of the proposed concept. Basic research for this engine concept has been performed prior to this proposal and a quasi one dimensional flow model of the engine exists. Primary tasks proposed for phase I include the enhancement of the existing flow model and further evaluation of the environmental concerns with a nuclear airbreathing engine. SSTO case studies will be analyzed and the results compared to performance of existing airbreathing engine concepts. Successful and positive results of this research offers the potential of an earth to orbit vehicle that could cut launch and operations costs orders of magnitude from existing levels.
Potential Commercial Applications:Current engine technology does not meet performance needs for economical earth to orbit missions. Existing engines cannot support the necessary structural mass fractions for inclusion of redundant and robust systems for safe and economic flights to orbit. The nuclear electric airbreathing propulsion concept defined within has the potential for breakthrough leaps in propulsive efficiency. These higher efficiencies will create major savings in ground operations requirements through the use of an engine that can support an economical single stage to orbit reusable launch vehicle. This proposal defines a road map of tasks to be completed to prove the feasibility of the proposed concept. Basic research for this engine concept has been performed prior to this proposal and a quasi one dimensional flow model of the engine exists. Primary tasks proposed for phase I include the enhancement of the existing flow model and further evaluation of the environmental concerns with a nuclear airbreathing engine. SSTO case studies will be analyzed and the results compared to performance of existing airbreathing engine concepts. Successful and positive results of this research offers the potential of an earth to orbit vehicle that could cut launch and operations costs orders of magnitude from existing levels.
