High Power Electric Propulsion: MARS plus EUROPA – Already Beyond 2025!

It’s mid-term realization plus global strategic investments: the results of the European Russian DEMOCRITOS project (Horizon 2020) related to the MW class INPPS (International Nuclear Power and Propulsion System) flagship will be described. INPPS flagship includes high power electric thrusters cluster, supplied electric power by the nuclear reactor (successfully tested in Russia) and a solar power ring. Two INPPS versions were studied – the wide and arrow wing versions. Both versions have a futuristic design with standardized interfaces for several flagship subsystems. Especially the high payload mass of INPPS allows the transport of – for example – up to 12 t to JUPITER moon EUROPA and about 18 t to MARS – as a function of specific impulse of electric thrusters. INPPS flagship not only allows scientific, but especially commercial and communication payloads as well. This means industrial-scale production of space flight systems for robotic and human space exploration. International cooperation related to INPPS realization are necessary within an International High Power Space Transportation program to realize the DEMOCRITOS core, ground and space components until 2025. DEMOCRITOS project included partners from Europe, Russia and a Brazilian guest observer and received several inputs from NASA Cleveland and JAXA Tokyo

Non-Human and Human Transport to Mars: by Mars- plus Europa-INPPS Flagship Missions including High Mass Science Payload

Summary Status INPPS Flagshi

Mars- plus Europa-INPPS Flagship Missions with High Power Electric Thrusters and Heavy Science Payload

2020/2021 orbit calculations (DLR Bremen + MAI Moscow): 3 Orbits for one non-human MARS/EUROPA-INPPS flagship 1. Orbit Earth (11 Oct 2026) => Mars (28 Jan 2028); 2. Orbit Mars (22 Sept 2028) => Earth (29 Jul 2029); 3. Orbit Earth (12 Oct 2031) => Jupiter / Europa (6 Dec 2035) 22 ETs (for the INPPS flagship CET): example - gridded CET plate with combined ET

Non-Human + Human Deep Space Exploration: By The NEP INPPS Flagship

INPPS Flagship Structure & Subsystems, Ground Based Tests, Pure NEP, International Electric Thrusters, Humans Internationally To Mar

Humans to Mars: by MARS- plus EUROPA-INPPS Flagship Mission

The first non-human INPPS (International Nuclear Power and Propulsion System) flagship flight with orbits Earth-Mars-Earth-Jupiter/Europa (after 2025) is the most maximal space qualification test of INPPS flagship to carry out the second INPPS flagship flight to Mars with humans (in the 2030th). This high power space transportation tug is realistic because of A) the successful finalization of the European-Russian DEMOCRITOS and MEGAHIT projects with their three concepts of space, ground and nuclear demonstrators for INPPS realization (reached in 2017), B) the successful ground based test of the Russian nuclear reactor with 1MWel plus important heat dissipation solution via droplet radiators (confirmed in 2018), C) the space qualification of the Russian reactor by 2025 and D) the perfect celestial constellation for a Earth-Mars/Phobos-Earth-Jupiter/Europa trajectory between 2026 and 2035. Therefore the talk sketches the preparation status of INPPS flagship with its subsystems. Critical performance will be studied by parallel realizations of the ground and nuclear demonstrators of DEMOCRITOS (until 2025). The space qualification of INPPS with all subsystems including the nuclear reactor in the middle of the 2020th plus the INPPS tests for about one to two years - first in high Earth orbit robotic assembly phase of INPPS and later extended in nearby Earth space environment flight - means a complete concepts driven approval for all applied INPPS space subsystem technologies. It is also important to consider wider aspects for the overall mission implementation phase. Component like the nuclear reactor as the power source for the propulsion system will have to agree with the 1992 UN principles relevant to the use of nuclear power sources (NPS) in outer space. Therefore this talk will look into the legal and policy issues of nuclear space systems related to the international realization of mission design, requirements of associated safety regulations (including AI applications in the subsystems) and new aspects for INPPS flagship commercialization and new media communication on board

Development of ion thruster IT-500

A high-power ion thruster IT-500 was designed, manufactured and tested at Keldysh Research Center within a transport-power module project. This module is being designed to perform near-Earth space and interplanetary transport missions. In its nominal operation mode, IT-500 provides thrust in the range from 375 to 750 mN at specific impulse of 70 000 m/s and thrust efficiency of 0.75. Due to a high cost of the experimental testing of a large thruster, the emphasis was placed on the numerical optimization of the thruster design. The thruster completed performance tests and a 300 h wear test. The output characteristics of the thruster, obtained during the tests, confirmed the correctness of the provisional numerical optimization. IT-500 design, performance, and validation of the design approaches are discussed in this paper

Mars / Europa INPPS Flagship: All right for UN NPS Principles

The presentation gives an overview of the current plans for the INPPS (International Nuclear Power and Propulsion System) Flagship design as well as related scenarios for utilization and puts these efforts in context with related legal and political challenges. In the last years (2017/2018) significant technological progress has been achieved as the nuclear reactor, radiator and propulsion subsystems of INPPS Flagship have successfully passed partial ground testing. Thus, the next step towards the INPPS goal of efficient and effective transport missions to Mars / Phobos and Jupiter / Europa has been taken. Hence, it is important to consider wider aspects for the overall mission implementation phase. Mission components such as the nuclear reactor as the power source for the propulsion system will have to comply with the 1992 UN principles relevant to the use of nuclear power sources (NPS) in outer space as well as scepticism at a time of low appetite for nuclear energy before implementation. Therefore in addition to an update on current technical state of art, this paper will look into the political questions related to the mission design, requirements of associated safety regulations and economic aspects for INPPS Flagship commercialization and international communication. The paper will show that the rationales for pursuing the implementation of this flagship mission are derived from a technological push but also from wider strategic aspects that benefit a variety of stakeholders and serve multiple goals. The interactive presentation will include videos related to INPPS Flagship, international interviews for Mars exploration mission by NPS, description of UN principles of NPS as well as commercialization and international communication aspects

Mars / Europa INPPS Flagship: All right for UN NPS Principles

The interactive poster, a short listed poster at IAC-19, contains several videos, images and figures related to the MARS- and EUROPA INPPS (International Nuclear Power and Propulsion System) flagship, agreement with the UN Nuclear Power Source principles and world-wide interviews for promotion of INPPS flagship as a human and non-human space transportation tug for interplanetary exploration. The paper for the interactive poster is readable under ELIB 134402