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

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

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

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

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

INPPS Flagship: Cluster of Electric Thrusters

This paper describes the results of the European-Russian DEMOCRITOS and MEGAHIT projects related to the electric thrusters on board the International Nuclear Power and Propulsion System (INPPS) flagship. INPPS flagship is a high power space transportation hybrid tug (power supply primary by nuclear power, by auxiliary solar power ring and chemical propulsion due to subsystems transport for assembly at high Earth orbit above 800 km) for Mars, Europa, Moon and asteroid exploration flights. In dependence from the actual exploration mission, mission phases, trajectory, and preferred international high power electric thrusters (about 20 - 50 kW) with different specific impulse, the results will be discussed in detail - also as a function of the transportable payload mass. Because of the 1 MWe nuclear reactor (successful ground based test confirmed by Russia in 2018) as the power supply for INPPS a cluster of about 15 or more electric thrusters were studied in the DEMOCRITOS project for MARS and EUROPA INPPS flagships. Issues related to power processing units for the electric thrusters were identified and will be discussed. In addition, low power (kW) electric thrusters for an INPPS flagship co-flying small inspection satellite are sketched too. Insofar the presentation is directly highlighting aspects of disruptive electric propulsion subsystems, within the INPPS space system and applied to visionary Mars (including non-human and human) and Europa exploration and space transport tug flights

INPPS Flagship with iBOSS Building Blocks

This presentation addresses iBOSS (intelligent Building Blocks for On-Orbit Satellite Servicing and Assembly) as building blocks for non-nuclear sub-systems in INPPS (International Nuclear Power and Propulsion System) flagship. iBOSS are ideal mechanical, thermal, fluidic and data standardized building blocks to be used in autonomous robotic in-space assembly operations (referred to CAESAR (Compliant Assistance and Exploration SpAce Robot (CAESAR))) of INPPS in high Earth orbit above 800km. Additionally iBOSS will be used after non-human Mars return of INPPS, new replacements of INPPS sub-systems equipped in iBOSS for extended INPPS mission to Europa plus usage in a later first human Mars-INPPS mission. iBOSS building blocks are foreseen to be used in the non-human INPPS version (with wide wing radiators) in the second half of 2020th for space qualification - also already to Mars / Europa - and later in the 2030th in an arrow wing radiators version of INPPS flagship for human and cargo transport to Mars. These INPPS flagship versions with iBOSS were studied in a concurrent engineering study at DLR within the European-Russian DEMOCRITOS project. The study was supported by NASA Glenn Research Center and JAXA Tokyo. The result of the study related to iBOSS is, that the flagship will be - in considerable high quantity of the non-nuclear sub-systems - be equipped with iBOSS and iBOSS interfaces. For example, these sub-systems within iBOSS are the tanks of the electric thrusters, the power processing units and the electric thrusters. The iBOSS interfaces are foreseen for the deployable boom, the payload basket as well as for the auxiliary solar power ring. Insofar these sub-systems contribute to advancements with respect to engineering, manufacturing, assembly, test verification, reliability and service to reach the ten years operation duration of the new advanced space system INPPS