U.K. clean space propulsion systems and services company Pulsar Fusion has formed a partnership with U.S.-based Princeton Satellite Systems to use artificial intelligence (AI) to design a hyper-fast space rocket that will be capable of reaching Mars in only 30 days.
The collaboration will see the two companies using AI machine learning study data from the world record holding Princeton field-reverse configuration (PFRC-2) reactor in order to better understand the behavior of hot plasma under electromagnetic heating and confinement when utilized as an aneutronic propulsion system.
In a world first, the two companies will use data from plasma shots conducted at the PRRC-2. This system was developed in partnership with the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. The most advanced machine learning technologies will be employed to analyze the behavior of super-hot fusion plasma in a rocket engine configuration. This research aims to discover how a nuclear fusion plasma will behave as it exits a rocket engine emitting exhaust particles at hundreds of miles per second.
Pulsar Fusion is located in Oxfordshire, U.K. It is developing simulations based on gas puffing data from the PRFC-2 to attempt to create predictive simulations of ion and electron behavior in an FRC plasma. Such simulations are needed for closed-loop control systems which are a key component of a future PFRC reactor.
The partners aim to create a deep space rocket engine with a five hundred thousand miles per hour potential. A rocket with this velocity could cut the trip to Mars to just thirty days and make Saturn’s moon Titan reachable in two years.
Richard Dinan is the founder and CEO of Pulsar. He said, “By pooling our own research and resources with those of Princeton Satellite Systems, Pulsar has gained access to behavioral data from the world record holding fusion reactor (PRFC-2) coupled with recent advancements in machine learning. This will supercharge the development of our nuclear fusion rocket systems”.
Dinan added, “Fusion propulsion is free from many of the vast infrastructure requirements presented in the development of terrestrial fusion energy for power stations on Earth. Space is the ideal place to do fusion in terms of it being a vacuum and the extremely cold temperatures. Unlike a fusion power station, fusion propulsion doesn't require a giant steam turbine and fuels can be sourced externally rather than needing to be created on site. Humanity has a huge need for faster propulsion in our growing space economy and fusion offers 1000 times the power of conventional ion thrusters currently used in orbit. In short, if humans can achieve fusion for energy, then fusion propulsion in space is inevitable. Our view is that fusion propulsion will be demonstrated in space decades before we can harness fusion for energy on Earth.”
With current propulsion systems, a trip to Mars is estimated to take six months or longer. A major concern with such a duration is that astronauts would be subjected to a great deal of dangerous radiation during the trip. In addition, the fuel requirements as well as food and oxygen for such a trip may be very expensive or even prohibitive. With a thirty-day travel time, the possibilities of extended explorations of Mars and even colonization become feasible.