据《C4ISRNET》4月13日报道

美国国防部国防高级研究计划局（DARPA）12日宣布，已授予通用原子公司、蓝色起源公司和洛克希德马丁公司主承包商合同，研制可在2025年部署低地球轨道飞行的核动力推进系统（NTP），周期18个月，但未透露合同金额。这是空军“敏捷地-月间飞行作战用演示火箭”（DARCO）计划的第一阶段合同内容，为美军未来地球与月球间太空作战系统提供敏捷能力。DARPA确信，核动力推进系统可以提升更大的推重比，能为太空作战提供快速机动能力，而目前的电与化学推进系统都做不到。DARCO计划项目经理南森·格雷纳少校称，这些公司已经演示了研制与部署反应堆、推进器和航天系统的能力，开展核动力推进系统技术攻关研制，旨在为美军未来太空作战奠定基础。通用原子公司负责核动力反应堆和推进分系统的初始创新设计，蓝色起源公司负责设计作战系统航天器概念，并牵引洛克希德马丁公司负责设计的演示系统航天器概念。第一阶段完成后，将转入在轨演示系统研制试验。

DARPA chooses three firms to design nuclear-powered space vehicle

Nathan Strout C4ISRNET APRIL13

WASHINGTON — The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has picked three companies to design a nuclear thermal propulsion system that will operate above low Earth orbit in 2025, the U.S. agency announced April 12.

General Atomics, Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin received contract awards and will be the prime contractors for the first phase of the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations, or DRACO, program.

DARPA believes nuclear-powered propulsion could enable rapid maneuver in space — a capability that is difficult to achieve with current electric and chemical propulsion systems. The agency claims DRACO’s nuclear thermal propulsion, or NTP, system could potentially deliver the high thrust-to-weight ratios of a chemical propulsion system with the high propellent efficiency of an electric system. That would give U.S. military systems the agility the Pentagon wants for cislunar operations.

“The performer teams have demonstrated capabilities to develop and deploy advanced reactor, propulsion, and spacecraft systems,” Maj. Nathan Greiner, the Air Force program manager for DRACO, said in a statement. “The NTP technology we seek to develop and demonstrate under the DRACO program aims to be foundational to future operations in space.”

DARPA did not reveal the value of the three awards.

The Phase 1 contracts cover an 18-month period. General Atomics will create a preliminary design of the NTP reactor and propulsion subsystem, while Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin will each independently design an operational system spacecraft concept and demonstration system spacecraft concept. The demonstration system will be derived from the operational system concept, but it will be specifically for demonstrating the NTP propulsion subsystem.

“This first phase of the DRACO program is a risk reduction effort that will enable us to sprint toward an on-orbit demonstration in later phases,” Greiner said.

DARPA will use the Phase 1 work to inform its follow-on efforts for more detailed design work, building the systems and conducting an on-orbit demonstration.

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