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Starship rival: Chinese scientists build prototype engine for nuclear-powered spaceship to Mars

  • 1.5 megawatt-class shrinkable fission reactor passes initial ground tests as global race for space intensifies
  • The lithium-cooled system is designed to expand from a container-sized volume into a structure as large as a 20-storey building in space

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China’s experimental lithium-cooled space nuclear reactor beneath a sign that reads “Innovate or perish. No excuses”. Photo: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Stephen Chenin Beijing
A collaboration of more than 10 research institutes and universities across China has made significant strides towards interplanetary travel with the development of a nuclear fission technology that could power large-scale exploration of Mars.
In a paper published by the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ peer-reviewed journal Scientia Sinica Technologica, the research team said its prototype lithium-cooled nuclear reactor system has passed some initial ground tests.

The results confirmed some of the key technological solutions invented by Chinese scientists and engineers to shrink a megawatt-class reactor – seven times more powerful than a rival system being built by Nasa – to an unprecedented size, they said.

When fully deployed in space, the 1.5 megawatt reactor – including its heat sink – could tower as high as a 20-storey building. But on the ground, it will fold neatly into a container-sized volume, weighing less than eight tonnes, the paper said.

The design makes the reactor system “easy to load and launch by rocket,” wrote the researchers, led by the academy’s Wu Yican. It will also be able to maintain stable operations in the harsh environments of space for extended periods, they said.

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China’s Zhu Rong rover discovers evidence of an ancient sea on Mars

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According to the paper, the powerful energy source will make high-mass, round-trip transport possible for both crewed and cargo space flights – opening the way for China’s large-scale exploration of the moon and Mars.

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