I’ve grown up with rockets that burn chemical fuel, but NASA’s next big leap in propulsion could make those engines look as dated as steam trains. By turning to nuclear power in space, the agency is ...

NASA fired up a prototype of its electromagnetic thruster inside a vacuum chamber, reaching power levels of up to 120 ...

Human crews headed for Mars are still looking at journeys that last most of a year, long enough for radiation, boredom and mechanical risk to pile up. Nuclear propulsion promises to compress that ...

For years, nuclear propulsion sat in the same category as so many ambitious space ideas, impressive on paper, always a few ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – New developments in nuclear thermal propulsion technologies may soon enable advanced space missions to the farthest reaches of the solar system. Leading these advances are researchers ...

NASA NIAC funded the Thin-Film Nuclear Engine Rocket (TFINER). By May 2025, it advanced to Phase II, focusing on maturing the technology, mission designs, small-scale thruster experiments, and isotope ...

Lockheed Martin's concept for a fission surface power (FSP) system on the surface of the moon. Credit: Lockheed Martin No technology holds more transformative potential for America’s space aspirations ...

Shifting environmental requirements are "reigniting interest" in nuclear propulsion as a long-term solution for maritime decarbonisation, according to Norwegian classification society DNV. However, it ...