[ExI] Use Fusion Drive To Get To Proxima Centauri

[Stuart LaForge]

On 2025-07-06 13:14, BillK via extropy-chat wrote:
> How To Use Fusion To Get To Proxima Centauri's Potentially Habitable 
> Exoplanet
> By Andy Tomaswick - July 6, 2025
> 
> <https://www.universetoday.com/articles/how-to-use-fusion-to-get-to-proxima-centauris-potentially-habitable-exoplanet>
> Quote:
> That was the thought behind the Master’s Thesis of Amelie Lutz at
> Virginia Tech - she looked at the possibility of using fusion
> propulsion systems to send a few hundred kilogram probe to the system,
> and potentially even orbit it.
> The winning solution, according to her thesis, is a fusion driven
> rocket (FDR) configuration using D-He3 as a fuel source. By her
> calculations, such a system could arrive in the Proxima Centauri
> system and begin orbiting its target planet in around 57 years.
> ------------------
> 
> This is all speculation, of course, as a fusion drive hasn't been 
> invented yet.
> But it could happen in a possible future.
> BillK

While it's true that nobody has yet built a prototype fusion drive, 
there are already a few companies that are making progress and receiving 
funding. In the UK, there is Pulsar Fusion and in California there is 
Helicity Space.

https://pulsarfusion.com/

https://www.helicityspace.com/

Two other companies are developing nuclear propulsion tech, but I think 
they are fission engines:

https://x-energy.com/why/nuclear-and-space/nuclear-thermal-propulsion
https://www.bwxt.com/

Of note, Pulsar says they plan on orbital testing of components in 2027 
and hope to start production in 2030.

Stuart LaForge