NASA Administrator Bill Nelson unveiled the project during a presentation at the 2023 American Aerospace Sciences Institute (AIAA) Science and Technology Forum and Expo in Maryland National Harbor on Tuesday, January 24. Nelson said the agency will work with the Pentagon’s Advanced Defense Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to “develop and demonstrate advanced nuclear thermal engines, a revolutionary technology that will enable the United States to enhance the capabilities of future manned spaceflight missions.”

Under the agreement, NASA will participate in DARPA’s Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations, or DRACO, program. starting in 2021. The program aims to develop a nuclear heat engine for use in an experimental spacecraft developed by DARPA. DARPA will develop the nuclear reactor and engine for this nuclear rocket, which the agency and NASA hope to launch at a space show as early as 2027. Nelson described the partnership as “an exciting investment in the future of human space exploration” and a “huge investment in a mission to Mars”.

“DRACO will be a critical part of evaluating technologies that will allow us to delve deeper into the solar system,” NASA Vice President Pam Melroy said during the presentation. “Our intention is to develop and pioneer a plan for human exploration and a permanent presence throughout the solar system. This is a very important goal. And we believe these advanced technologies will be an important part of that.”

NASA and DARPA issued an interdepartmental agreement outline the roles and responsibilities of each institution; The agreement gives NASA final authorization to develop and manufacture a nuclear thermal rocket engine. However, the agreement authorizes DARPA to operate an “Experimental NTR Vehicle (X-NTRV)”, a spacecraft that will be powered by a planned nuclear rocket engine, and DARPA will be responsible for operating and destroying X-NTRV in orbit. .

“NASA has a long history of working with DARPA on projects that enable our related missions, such as space maintenance,” Melroy said. Said. “Expanding our partnership to include nuclear propulsion will help advance NASA’s goal of sending humans to Mars.”

This is the vision of a nuclear missile goes back decades. NASA Nuclear Engine for the Rocket Vehicle Implementation program, or NERVA program, intended to launch a manned mission to Mars in 1979 based on a nuclear rocket. The program was canceled in 1972 due to budget cuts and escalating Cold War fears.

Sending humans to Mars has become one of the main goals of both government space agencies and spaceflights. private space companies. The NASA Artemis program is part of the vision of the “From” agency. From the Moon to MarsIt will use what NASA learned from planned lunar exploration to work on the installation. Human presence on the Red Planet. Meanwhile, SpaceX says it will launch soon in orbit Starship, which the company plans to eventually land on Mars; other private space companies we are working to achieve this goal.