Experiences in Managing the Prometheus Project

Nuclear Power Sources: A Key Enabling Technology for Planetary Exploration

“…Although the project was led by the US Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the reactor work was led from 2004 onwards by Naval Reactors, but involved in total a few dozen US entities and 500 full-time equivalent staff when it was discontinued in 2005 based on a life-cycle cost estimate (including the launch vehicle) or more than $10B [37]. Technically, the design centred on a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor directly coupled with redundant Brayton turbo alternators for power conversion with the capability of producing approximately 200 kW of electrical power for a 15-20-year nuclear electric propulsion mission [37]. It was foreseen that the reactor would power a very ambitious spacecraft to be launched first in 2015 with a wet mass of more than 36 tons, including 12 tons of xenon propellant, a total length of 58 m, and a radiator area of 422 m 2 [37,38].…”

“…Technically, the design centred on a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor directly coupled with redundant Brayton turbo alternators for power conversion with the capability of producing approximately 200 kW of electrical power for a 15-20-year nuclear electric propulsion mission [37]. It was foreseen that the reactor would power a very ambitious spacecraft to be launched first in 2015 with a wet mass of more than 36 tons, including 12 tons of xenon propellant, a total length of 58 m, and a radiator area of 422 m 2 [37,38].…”