Space Business Podcast #99 Princeton Satellite Systems: Nuclear Fusion Propulsion

Nuclear fusion propulsion. Do I have your attention? Probably ... after all, we need to get to places like Mars, and beyond, faster than on the current chemical rockets. There are now actually some startups working on nuclear fusion propulsion and one of them, Princeton Satellite Systems, are our guests this week. Enjoy!

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Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

2:07 Elevator pitch

3:34 Future of space propulsion

5:13 Current state of fusion

10:16 Magnetic fusion

13:24 The FRC

16:47 Power budget

18:46 Terrestrial power generation use case

22:23 The Moon

25:03 What is left to do on the tech side

29:47 Timeline

31:01 Safety

33:15 In-space propulsion

36:44 NASA's past nuclear projects

37:54 Timing for prototype in space

42:43 Biggest obstacles

45:56 Beyond the current fusion engine proposal