You would never expect that a company in the United States has launched the world's first nuclear fusion thruster and will launch it into space for demonstration testing in July and October this year. However, this nuclear fusion engine is not the huge spacecraft engine you imagined, but a micro-propeller that weighs only 1 kilogram and is used to propel satellites. Isn't this even more puzzling? How can it cause such a small thing? What about nuclear fusion?
This engine is called FireStar Fusion Drive, and it comes from RocketStar Company in New York, USA. They claim that this is the world's first fusion-enhanced space thruster, which will completely change the way space propulsion is carried out and will enable humanity to move toward the future. A giant leap forward for space travel.
To put it simply, RocketStar already has a mature FireStar basic version of the thruster, which is a pulse plasma thruster that uses water as a fuel and has been used in the propulsion of space satellites. Now, they have made a breakthrough by adding boron to the water, allowing the ionized protons to collide with the boron nuclei at high speed, thereby triggering a nuclear fusion reaction and significantly improving the performance of the thruster.
thruster
At this point, you may have a question. Doesn't igniting nuclear fusion require high temperature and high pressure? How can this mere 1-kilogram microsatellite produce high temperature and high pressure? Can nuclear fusion occur?
The actual boron fusion thruster is a concept that has been introduced previously. As early as 2011, John Chapman, a physicist and electronic engineer at NASA Langley Research Center in the United States, proposed this concept. He believed that deuterium and tritium nuclear fusion would produce a large number of ions, impacting the reactor walls, releasing radioactive isotopes and losing a large amount of energy.
Boron fusion is called neutron-free fusion, and the neutron energy produced does not exceed 1% of the total energy, which can reduce the problems caused by neutron radiation and greatly reduce the requirements for biological protection, remote control and safety. The most critical thing is that the thrust generated by neutron-free boron fusion propulsion is more than 40 times that of the best thrusters at the time, making it very suitable for space propulsion.
The boron fusion reactor Chapman envisions is a two-layer structure 20 centimeters in diameter, with an outer layer of 5 to 10-micron conductive metal coils. During ignition, a pulsed laser with a frequency of 75 MHz, a wavelength of 1 to 10 microns, and an energy of 2×10^18 watts/cm² is used to illuminate the coil. The coil will generate an electric field and release high-energy electrons like a goddess scattering flowers, leaving behind a positive Electric proton.
Since the protons are positively charged and are very close to each other, they will push each other and generate a huge thrust, causing the metal material to explode and the high-energy protons to rush toward the boron in the inner layer. The energy of this proton is about 163-kilo electronvolts, which causes the boron nucleus to become an excited carbon nucleus, which then immediately decays into a helium 4 nucleus and a beryllium nucleus. The beryllium nucleus then decays into two alpha particles (helium nuclei). ), resulting in the fusion of a proton-boron pair, producing three alpha particles of 2.9 MeV.
Adding Boron to water vapor
Chapman's calculations showed that each laser beam can produce 100,000 particles, and the efficiency of the thruster can be more than 40 times that of the best ion thrusters. Moreover, the alpha particles are positively charged and can be directly output into electrical energy, with a conversion rate as high as 60 % to 70%. Chapman believes it will take 10 years to solve the problem and develop this economical, environmentally friendly, efficient and feasible space engine.
Thirteen years later, has Chapman's new concept finally become a reality? I feel like I can't say that yet because RocketStar's method is very different from what he imagined, and I still have doubts about whether it has achieved nuclear fusion, and more research may be needed to confirm.
According to RocketStar, their FireStar is a water-fuel pulsed plasma electric propulsion that uses pulsed electrostatic circulation to generate sparks through high-voltage electrodes to convert water vapor into plasma, then separate electrons and ions, accelerate the ions through the electrode, and finally eject from the nozzle Leaving at high speed creates thrust.
The FireStar basic version M1.4 thruster weighs 980 grams and is a cube with a side length of 9.5 centimeters, including 250 grams of pure liquid water. The normal power is 6 watts, and the maximum is 18 watts. It can generate a thrust of 17.2 millinewtons and a specific impulse of 7300. seconds, with a total sprint time of 17,800 N seconds, which means that it can accelerate itself to 18.2 kilometers/second, exceeding the third cosmic speed, and can rush out of the solar system directly.
RocketStar's introduction to the performance of M1.4 is that it can accelerate a 4kg 3U satellite to 4,620 m/s and an 8kg 6U satellite to 2,273 m/s. The U here means Unit, which means one for every 10X10X10 centimeters. The standard unit weight does not exceed 1.33 kg. This kind of thruster is mainly used for satellite propulsion, orbit change or deorbiting.
RocketStar's nuclear fusion engine is called M1.5. It is said to add boron to water vapor, allowing high-speed protons to collide with boron nuclei to cause nuclear fusion. During the test, it was found that alpha particles and gamma rays were produced, which is considered to be nuclear fusion. Clear signs were then confirmed and verified at Georgia Tech's High Power Electric Propulsion Laboratory.
According to RocketStar's website, this fusion reaction significantly improves the thruster's performance and, like the afterburner in a jet engine, converts boron into high-energy carbon, which then rapidly decays into three alpha particles, similar to the M1 . 4, the thrust is increased by 50% compared to that of the previous generation, and it is the world's first electric propulsion device enhanced by nuclear fusion.
Electric propulsion
Is it because you don't know how serious it is? At this point, we should basically understand what is going on with this nuclear fusion engine, but I think it may just be suspected of nuclear fusion happening, and I will analyze it in detail later. And even if this nuclear fusion occurs, it is only auxiliary. The entire thruster is still an ion thruster, and some positively charged alpha particles may be generated, which are ejected along with the acceleration of the electric field.
In fact, in March last year, Japan's Nuclear Fusion (Nuclear Fusion) Research Institute, together with the American nuclear fusion start-up TAE, added boron powder to the hydrogen plasma enclosed in a ring with a strong magnetic field in the Large Helical Device (LHD). Inside the body, the laser was then irradiated from the side, successfully causing protons to collide with boron and achieving a nuclear fusion reaction.
Therefore, the fusion of protons and boron does not require high temperature and high pressure. What we call high temperature and high pressure actually refers to the conditions for self-sustained and controllable nuclear fusion. As long as protons can approach the range of the boron nuclear force, fusion is possible. In another study, I found that for the proton-boron nuclear fusion reaction to occur, the incident proton speed needs to reach 100keV-300keV, which is consistent with Chapman's previous statement of 163 kiloelectronvolts.
But there is a problem here with FireStar. I calculated the speed of the protons ejected by the ion thruster. The specific impulse is 7300 seconds. The speed of the protons is about 27eV, which is far lower than the conditions of the proton-boron fusion reaction. I originally doubted it. A thruster with a power of only a few watts is unlikely to accelerate protons to a speed that triggers nuclear fusion. Now, it is really doubtful, but it was indeed written on the website, and multiple news sources also published it. These alpha particles are, again. How did it come about? I can only wonder.
At present, RocketStar has integrated the so-called M1.5 nuclear fusion-enhanced thruster into D-Orbit's OTV ION satellite. It will be launched into space on SpaceX ride-sharing missions in July and October this year for demonstration testing. In the future, we can find the answer.
But if FireStar really increases thrust by 50% through proton-boron fusion, this phenomenon is still worthy of careful study. Such low power can trigger nuclear fusion reactions. Who knows what surprising applications it will bring in the future?
Supplier
TRUNNANO is a globally recognized manufacturer and supplier of compounds with more than 12 years of expertise in the highest quality nanomaterials and other chemicals. The company develops a variety of powder materials and chemicals. Provide OEM service. If you need high quality Amorphous Boron Powder CAS 7440-42-8, please feel free to contact us. You can click on the product to contact us.
