Method and apparatus to produce high specific impulse and moderate thrust from a fusion-powered rocket engine
US9822769B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignees
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 10, 2013 |
| Grant date | Nov 21, 2017 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 8, 2034 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY02E30/10
- WIPO fieldEngines, pumps, turbines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A system and method for producing and controlling high thrust and desirable specific impulse from a continuous fusion reaction is disclosed. The resultant relatively small rocket engine will have lower cost to develop, test, and operate that the prior art, allowing spacecraft missions throughout the planetary system and beyond. The rocket engine method and system includes a reactor chamber and a heating system for heating a stable plasma to produce fusion reactions in the stable plasma. Magnets produce a magnetic field that confines the stable plasma. A fuel injection system and a propellant injection system are included. The propellant injection system injects cold propellant into a gas box at one end of the reactor chamber, where the propellant is ionized into a plasma. The propellant and fusion products are directed out of the reactor chamber through a magnetic nozzle and are detached from the magnetic field lines producing thrust.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.