TAE Technologies has also looked at building a nuclear fusion rocket. Nextbigfuture had covered TAE Technologies recent announcement that they will have a commercial nuclear fusion rocket by 2023.
The AIP Conference Proceedings 2004 – Colliding Beam Fusion Reactor Space Propulsion System
The Colliding Beam Fusion Reactor (CBFR( requires approximately 50 MW of injected power for steady-state operation. The H-B11 CBFR would generate approximately 77 MW of nuclear (particle) power, half of which is recovered in the direct-energy converter with 90% efficiency. An additional 11.5 MW are needed to sustain the reactor which is provided by the thermo-electric converter and Brayton-heat engine. The principal source of heat in the CBFR-SPS is due to Bremstrahlung radiation. The thermo-electric converter recovers approximately 20% of the radiation, or 4.6 MW, transferring approximately 18.2 MW to the closed-cycle, Brayton-heat engine.
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