SpaceNews

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Wins $2.2 Million Contract Option for Solar Thermal Propulsion Rocket Engine

The United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne a $2.2 million contract for the fabrication and ground test of a Solar Thermal Propulsion ...
GeekWire

Portal Space Systems brings its solar thermal propulsion system up to full power during test

Portal’s heat exchanger thruster, known as Flare, fires up during a test in a vacuum chamber. (Portal Space Systems Photo) Bothell, Wash.-based Portal Space Systems says it has successfully tested its ...
autoevolution

USSF to Conquer Deep-Space With Groundbreaking Solar Thermal-Powered Spacecraft

While all eyes are on the billionaires making their way to space for the first time in history, the U.S. Space Force (USSF) continues to develop its strategy for future operations in space. This time, ...
GeekWire

Portal Space Systems opens its doors for a sneak preview of solar propulsion system

VIPs cut the ribbon at Portal Space Systems’ HQ in Bothell, Wash. From left: U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene; Portal co-founders Prashaanth Ravindran, Jeff Thornburg and Ian Vorbach; and Bothell Mayor Mason ...
WNCT

Patent Approved for Space Propulsion System Poised to Transform Orbital Space Logistics

LOS ANGELES, July 19, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Orbital logistics and space mining leader TransAstra Corporation today announced that it has been granted a patent on a solar-thermal rocket engine that ...
Aviation Week

Propulsion Concept To Enable Deep-Space Repositioning For Space Force

Startup Rhea Space Activity is to study a solar-thermal propulsion system capable of rapidly repositioning a deep-space communications spacecraft under a U.S. Air Force small business contract. The ...
BGR

Portal Systems Is Planning To Use Sunlight To Move Spacecraft - Here's How

Mobility in space continually cements itself as important in this modern era of space exploration, with satellites like Starlink, Amazon's upcoming Project Kuiper, the International Space Station, and ...
RealClearScience

NASA Can Open Up the Solar System With Nuclear Propulsion

Viewed from orbit, Jackass Flats — situated in southern Nevada about 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas — could easily be confused for Mars. The alluvial basin is full of tan and gray regolith, hued ...
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AI is making spacecraft propulsion more efficient, and could even lead to nuclear-powered rockets

Every year, companies and space agencies launch hundreds of rockets into space—and that number is set to grow dramatically with ambitious missions to the moon, Mars and beyond. But these dreams hinge ...
SpaceRef

NASA Sources Sought Notice Teaming Opportunity for the Program Element “In-Space Propulsion Technologies” of the NASA Research Announcement “Reseach O

NASA Langley Research Center is seeking partners to develop proposals for the program element entitled, “In-Space Propulsion Technologies” of the NRA-02-0SS-01 entitled, “Research Opportunities in ...
SpaceNews

NASA Announces Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Reactor Concept Awards

NASA is leading an effort, working with the Department of Energy (DOE), to advance space nuclear technologies. The government team has selected three reactor design concept proposals for a nuclear ...