British nuclear fusion rocket start-up, Pulsar Fusion, will receive a grant toward its new transatlantic partnership aimed at developing electric propulsion systems for spacecraft.
Under the part UK Space Agency-funded collaboration, companies Pulsar Fusion and Starlight Engines will coordinate research with the Universities of Michigan and Southampton.
This will be into high-power electric propulsion and propellants, with Bletchley-based Pulsar a specialist in clean power systems for space travel.
“We remain optimistic that companies like Pulsar can continue to advance our technologies whilst remaining in the UK with access to unparalleled scientific resources,” boss Richard Dinan said.
Dubbing the partnership “key” for Pulsar, he added it was “particularly exciting given the global commercial interest in these engines”.
Though the partnership will be centred around electric systems, Pulsar is ultimately aiming to develop a nuclear fusion-powered rocket.
Mimicking the Sun’s process of creating energy, where atomic nuclei are fused together, ultimately offers the prospect of unlimited power, given more is produced than is put in.
Not only could this solve fuelling issues, Dinan suggests a fusion-powered rocket could be 1,000 times more powerful, and therefore faster, than the conventional thrusters currently in use.
According to his company, allowing eyewatering speeds of 500,000 mph, a prospective fusion-powered rocket could see trips to Mars slashed, meaning more time on the planet.
Pulsar’s transatlantic partnership marks its second this year, with the company announcing in January that work would be carried out with Princeton Satellite Systems to model fusion-powered flight.