The revolution continues! Warfare on the ground and sea will be heavily affected by megawatt-class lasers in the next two decades or so. There’s a laser revolution coming: a time when megawatt-scale beams will radically transform how we pro…
The revolution continues! Warfare on the ground and sea will be heavily affected by megawatt-class lasers in the next two decades or so. Ground warfare would also be affected by a laser revolution. So far, megawatt-scale lasers have been de…
There’s a laser revolution coming: a time when megawatt-scale beams will radically transform how we produce electricity, conduct war and even upset the nuclear world order. All they have to do it reach a certain convergence of price and pow…
Imagine you could take a train ride to space. Tracks that slope up into the sky, higher and higher, until you reach a plateau above the planet where it’s a straight line up to orbital velocity. The mechanics of a Lofstrom Launch Loop (prese…
Rotating tethers can reach incredible velocities when they are built out of high strength materials. With some design features, they can greatly surpass the exhaust velocities of chemical or even nuclear rockets. They can become propulsion
Fusion technology today relies on expensive, building-sized equipment for ignition, or the help of an already powerful fission detonation. What if we could do away with both? Fusion power without the need for fissiles, but also small enough…
Fusion technology today relies on expensive, building-sized equipment for ignition, or the help of an already powerful fission detonation. What if we could do away with both? Fusion power without the need for fissiles, but also small enough…
There has been much discussion about converting the SpaceX Starship to use nuclear propulsion. It would allow for a great increase in specific impulse and a massive extension of mission capabilities. The image above is modified from BocaChi…
What we need instead is a Fusion Highway to connect the Solar System in unprecedented ways. The art above is by GrahamTG. It depicts a Bussard Ramjet, which is relevant as all the same components (collection scoop, reaction chamber, magneti…
The Orion nuclear pulse propulsion concept has been around for over six decades now. It is powerful and robust, but lacks the flexibility and features we expect from many more modern designs. Can we give it those additional capabilities? Wi…
When you use up a fuel, you get a certain amount of energy for a given amount of mass. That mass of the spent fuel is now undesirable - it makes your spacecraft slower to accelerate and gives you no benefit. You might as well get rid of it.…
All the methods we have used to reach space so far have been subject to the Tsiolkovsky rocket equation - propellant must be ejected and more and more of it is needed to go further. The simple description is that a rotating tether, consisti…