AAWSAP DIRD, Positron Aerospace Propulsion, March 2010

This Defense Intelligence Reference Document was prepared by the Defense Intelligence Agency's Defense Warning Office and dated 2 March 2010. It is one of a series of advanced technology reports produced under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications program. It looks at using positrons as fuel for air-breathing turbojets, ramjet-assisted missiles, single-stage reusable vehicles and rockets for a manned Mars mission, and it also covers positron production, costs and storage. It concludes that a first positron-powered flight around the globe could be possible within 10 years.

From the source: Release of 2026-09-18 Incident: 3/2/10, Las Vegas, Nevada. Released with redactions. This document is a Defense Intelligence Reference Document (DIRD), a technical reference format used by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to capture baseline knowledge on a specific topic for later analytic use. DIRDs are best understood as reference and synthesis products rather than as original research. It is one of 38 DIRDs produced under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) between 2009 and 2011. Because AAWSAP’s scope permitted a broad range of supporting topics, not every DIRD in the series directly concerns aerospace systems or future threat assessment. The following summary reflects the DIRD’s scope and framing at the time of writing and should not be read as implying current validation of the concepts discussed. This DIRD examines positrons as a possible fuel for advanced aerospace propulsion, arguing that antimatter offers extraordinary energy density and could, in principle, support applications ranging from long-endurance aircraft and missiles to single-stage launch vehicles, onboard power systems, and crewed Mars missions. At the same time, it makes clear that the concept depends on resolving major unsolved problems in producing positrons in sufficient quantities and storing them safely for long periods, and much of the document’s discussion of flight systems and Mars missions remains conceptual rather than closely tied to demonstrated engineering practice. Its overall conclusion is that positron propulsion is theoretically attractive, but remains highly speculative as a practical technology because its core production and storage requirements remain unsolved.

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Table 1. GLOW for Chemical SSRV21
Vehicle Component
&ructure
Thermal Protection
Propulsion (4 engines)
Electronics
TOTAL DRY MASS
15% Margin + Unused Propellants
Payload
BURNOUT MASS
TOTAL PROPELLANT
GLOW
25,700 kg
12,300 kg
14,900 kg
7,600 kg
60,500 kg
11,400 kg
11.340 kg (24,948 lbs)
83,240 kg
3681300 kg
451 ,540 kg (993,388 lbs)
Table 2. GLOW for Positron SSRV22
Vehicle Component Mass
Structure
Thermal Protection
Propulsion (4 engines)
Electronics
TOTAL DRY MASS
15% Margin + Unused Propellants
Payload
BURNOUT MASS
TOTAL PROPELLANT
GLOW
25,700 kg
12,300 kg
14,900 kg
7,600 kg
60,500 kg
11,400 kg
11,340 kg (24,948 lbs)
83,240 kg
1761000 kg
259,240 kg (590 ,328 lbs)
The GLOW of the positron SSRV is 43 percent less than that of the chemica l SSRV
owing to reduced propell ant mass. The PTRE will dramatically increase the affordability
of space transportation by increasing the useful payload.
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