{"id":656198,"date":"2025-03-08T00:25:10","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T21:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/this-fusion-powered-rocket-could-halve-the-time-it-takes-to-get-to-mars\/"},"modified":"2025-03-08T00:25:10","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T21:25:10","slug":"this-fusion-powered-rocket-could-halve-the-time-it-takes-to-get-to-mars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/this-fusion-powered-rocket-could-halve-the-time-it-takes-to-get-to-mars\/","title":{"rendered":"#This fusion-powered rocket could halve the time it takes to get to Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a41926c9c981\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a41926c9c981\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/this-fusion-powered-rocket-could-halve-the-time-it-takes-to-get-to-mars\/#From_the_UK_to_Mars\" >From the UK to Mars<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-main-content\">\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Interplanetary <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">travel<\/a> might be about to get a whole lot faster \u2014 and hotter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UK startup Pulsar Fusion today unveiled \u201cSunbird,\u201d a nuclear fusion-powered rocket concept that could halve the time it takes to travel across our solar system \u2014 and, maybe, beyond it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Machine learning models show the rocket could potentially propel a spacecraft with a mass of about 1,000kg (2,200lb) to Pluto in four years \u2014 less than half the time it took NASA\u2019s <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/new-horizons\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New Horizons<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> mission, which was powered by regular ion thrusters. Earth to Mars? Four months. Earth to Saturn? Two years.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rather than launch from Earth each time, several Sunbirds would be \u201cdocked\u201d in low-Earth orbit, ready to attach to spacecraft and propel them deeper into the cosmos.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sunbird would be fitted with a Duel Direct Fusion Drive \u2014 a compact nuclear fusion engine which could provide both thrust and electrical power for spacecraft.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"inarticle-wrapper latest channel-cta hs-embed-tnw\">\n<div id=\"hs-embed-tnw\" class=\"channel-cta-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"channel-cta-img\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/tnw.events\/hardfork-2018\/uploads\/visuals\/tnw-newsletter.png\"\/><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/tnw.events\/hardfork-2018\/uploads\/visuals\/tnw-newsletter.png\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"channel-cta-input\">\n<p class=\"channel-cta-title\">The \ud83d\udc9c of EU tech<\/p>\n<p class=\"channel-cta-tagline\">The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol&#8217; founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It&#8217;s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pulsar started building the engine<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in 2023 at a site in <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Milton Keynes<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, England. Static tests are slated to begin in 2025 followed by an \u201cIn Orbit Demonstration\u201d (IOD) of the core <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> components in 2027, the company said. When fired, the engine could temporarily become the hottest place in the solar system, creating exhaust speeds of more than 500,000mph (804,672km\/h). <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"resp-video-container\"><iframe title=\"Pulsar Fusion Sunbird - Migratory Transfer Vehicle\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" srcdoc=\"&lt;style&gt;*{padding:0;margin:0;overflow:hidden}html,body{background:#000;height:100%}img{position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;object-fit:cover;transition:opacity .1s cubic-bezier(0.4,0,1,1)}a:hover img+img{opacity:1!important}&lt;\/style&gt;&lt;a href=\" https:=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/mjIdbHUAw4s\/hqdefault.jpg\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/themes\/cyberdelia\/assets\/img\/ytplaybtn.png\" style=\"top: 50%;left:50%;width:68px;height:48px;transform:translate3d(-50%,-50%,0)\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/themes\/cyberdelia\/assets\/img\/ytplaybtn-hover.png\" style=\"top: 50%;left:50%;width:68px;height:48px;opacity:0;transform:translate3d(-50%,-50%,0)\"\/>&#8221; frameborder=&#8221;0&#8243; allow=&#8221;accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share&#8221; referrerpolicy=&#8221;strict-origin-when-cross-origin&#8221; allowfullscreen&gt;<\/iframe><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"From_the_UK_to_Mars\"><\/span>From the UK to Mars<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Founded in 2011, Pulsar has spent over a decade on fusion research. More recently, the company started developing two other products in parallel: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a Hall-effect electric thruster for spacecraft and a second-stage hybrid rocket engine.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pulsar has built a reputation in this industry for delivering real technology \u2014 not just talking about it,\u201d said founder and CEO Richard Dinan. \u201cWe\u2019ve recently commissioned not one, but two of the largest space propulsion testing chambers in the UK, if not all of Europe \u2014 and we have ambitious plans to grow from here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While Pulsar\u2019s goal to build and test a fusion reactor in space in just three years is certainly ambitious, advances in AI could help. The company has teamed up with the US-based Princeton Satellite Systems to predict how plasma behaves under electromagnetic confinement. The machine learning simulations will guide the rocket engine\u2019s design.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2022, Pulsar secured funding from the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UK Space Agency to develop a nuclear-fission based propulsion system, alongside the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre and Cambridge University.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/category\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/pulsar-fusion-powered-rocket-to-half-time-to-mars\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Interplanetary travel might be about to get a whole lot faster \u2014 and hotter.\u00a0 UK startup Pulsar Fusion today unveiled \u201cSunbird,\u201d a nuclear fusion-powered rocket concept that could halve the time it takes to travel across our solar system \u2014 and, maybe, beyond it.\u00a0 Machine learning models show the rocket could potentially propel a spacecraft&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":656199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw-blurple?filter_last=1&fit=1280%2C640&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn0.tnwcdn.com%2Fwp-content%2Fblogs.dir%2F1%2Ffiles%2F2025%2F03%2FUntitled-design-27.jpg&signature=df42855cc03247e2067b485cb82b2c13","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-656198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}