Richard Blott, Space Enterprise Partnerships Limited

1. EC-ESA Workshop on Exploration and Innovation Industrial Competitiveness and Technological Advance Nuclear Electric Propulsion Thursday 29th & Friday 30th April 2010 Richard Blott, Space Enterprise Partnerships Limited

2. BACKGROUND • FP7 Space Transportation High Power Electric Propulsion a Roadmap for the Future (HiPER) multi-national Project addresses: • Future mission requirements, • The next generation of high power electric propulsion (EP) systems, • The required sources of electrical power generation (solar and nuclear). • Nuclear power generation team comprises: • Space Enterprise Partnerships (coordination, requirements and architecture), • Rolls Royce plc (reactor and power conversion design), • Acta srl (Pisa) shielding design. • Objectives: • Review the current state of technological progress, • Identify development needed to meet requirements from mission analysis, • Assess feasibility and risk through modelling and simulation, • Develop a ‘concept design’ and the technical Roadmap to achieve it. SEP-EC-ESA-Exp 2 8/6/2014

3. OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES • Mission Examples: • Scientific missions to Jupiter’s moons and beyond (including sample return), • Re-usable in-space logistic ‘tugs’ operating from an EML1 ‘space harbour’, • Commercial operations such as NEO mining. • Propulsion Technology Opportunity: • High power EP requirements are similar for both solar and nuclear power, • Challenges: • Mission analysis requires 40% decrease in specific mass and 10X improvement in lifetime compared to achievements to date, • Launch constraints such as Ariane 5 lift and volume capacity. • Progress requires: • Moving to high temperature rotodymanic power conversion machinery (eg Brayton cycle turbo alternators), • Innovative shielding design in terms of both materials and shape, • Innovative approach to system architecture and trade-offs. SEP-EC-ESA-Exp

4. TRANS-SECTORAL SYNERGIES • Rolls Royce plc is a good example of trans-sectoral synergies: • Business is essentially terrestrial; both civil and defence, • Makes both nuclear reactors and high temperature gas turbines, • Has some space experience from periodic studies. • Acta srl is an example of a small university (Pisa) spin-off company: • Has a background in terrestrial nuclear safety consultancy, • Liaises with the university (Pisa) on laboratories and test facilities. • Considerations (SEP personal view): • Rolls Royce experience and expertise critical to finding technical solutions needed, • Acta very cost effective in technical review • For Rolls Royce space projects are an opportunity to evaluate the scope for innovation and new markets and challenge research staff, • But the space market is small compared to manufacturing aircraft engines or developing a new generation of civil nuclear power plants, • Nuclear (fission) power generation for space is a long term, expensive development with no current government commitment to funding. SEP-EC-ESA-Exp

5. POLICY CONCLUSIONS • HiPER indicates that a realistic strategy for the exploration of our outer solar system will require nuclear electric propulsion (NEP). • The resources required suggest joint European/US (or other) projects which in turn may lead to supply chain specialisation. • Once developed the (NEP) capability would be attractive for other applications such as re-usable ‘space tugs’ for cargo and mining. • Development of nuclear electric propulsion will require experience and expertise from outside the traditional space community. • We have no shortage of theoretical studies but progress requires R&D (particularly ‘D’) by industry with the right practical experience. • The technical advances envisaged require and would be expected to help maintain industrial competitiveness in theory. • In practice identifying a worthwhile market and the funding to develop the NEP capability is equally essential. • Potential spin-off to other applications needs further investigation. SEP-EC-ESA-Exp