A ground-breaking Russian nuclear space-travel propulsion system will be ready by 2017 and will power a ship capable of long-haul interplanetary missions by 2025, giving Russia a head start in the outer-space race.
The megawatt-class nuclear drive will function for up to three years and produce 100-150 kilowatts of energy at normal capacity.
The new project proposes the use of an electric ion propulsion system. The engines exhaust thrust will be generated by an ion flow, which is further accelerated by an electric field. The nuclear reactor will therefore "supply" the necessary amount of electric power without unwanted radioactive contamination of the environment.
Xenon will serve as the working body for the engines.
It is under development at Skolkovo, Russia's technology innovation hub, whose nuclear cluster head Denis Kovalevich confirmed the breakthrough to Interfax. "At present we are testing several types of fuel and later we will start drafting the design," he said.
While the engine is expected to be fully assembled by 2017 the accompanying craft will not be ready before 2025 former head of Roscosmos, Anatoly Perminov, told Interfax.
Scientists expect to start putting the new engine through its paces in operational tests as early as 2014.
The Russian government began the ambitious project in 2010 with an investment of approximately $17 million dollars and is expected to shell out $247 million over the next five years to complete the engine.
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