General Atomics and Blue Origin will build nuclear-powered space rockets

The US agency DARPA has concluded contracts with General Atomics, Lockheed Martin and Blue Origin of billionaire Jeff Bezos for the production of nuclear-powered space rockets. Contracts were concluded with companies within the DRACO agency program, which set a clear goal. Get into nuclear orbit a nuclear thermal propulsion spacecraft. The CNBC server informed about it. Spacecraft now use chemical propulsion as standard. However, it is not entirely efficient and DARPA, which belongs to the US Department of Defense and is responsible for developing new military technologies, is working for change. Therefore, new possibilities began to work, including nuclear thermal propulsion. Nuclear rocket engines can provide higher cruising speeds and bring the era of space exploration closer. Compared to traditional chemical systems, the core also brings higher efficiency and power density, which makes these systems much smaller and lighter. "Nuclear propulsion is a technology that will dramatically change the way a spacecraft operates in the coming years. The speed will increase and it is possible to expect trips to the planet Mars, "Bill Pratt, a manager from Human Exploration, which also cooperates with the NASA space agency, told CNBC. In the first phase of development, General Atomics will focus on the design of nuclear thermal reactor technology and the concept of the propulsion system. This stage is estimated to last less than eighteen months. General Atomics has signed a $ 22 million contract with DARPA, which is almost 500 million crowns. In the second phase, Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin will work mainly on conceptual designs of spacecraft. The value of the contract with Lockheed Martin is, according to available information, $ 2.9 million, and for Blue Origin it is $ 2.5 million.