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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Benefits of using positrons for a Mars mission include:
• The "disposab le /:i.V" used to propel TMI stages into low-probability Earth or Mars
intercepts can be eliminated, reducing total propellant mass.
• Reduction in shielding and engine mass give lower initial mass low Earth orbit for
launch vehicles or faster transits for piloted missions.
• The ERV uses a positron engine instead of LOX/CH4. Th is gives significant mass
savings or an equivalent reduction in Mars-to-Earth return time for astronauts.
• The improvement in l sp translates to either a reduced launch payload mass for cargo
missions or reduced transit times for piloted missions to Mars.
• More chemical propellant can be stored on the lander to improve aerobraking or
landing strateg ies that reduce hazards for astronauts.
Launch dates are set for around 2030. Assuming minimum !:i.V for Mars opposition-class
missions, interpla netary scenarios are illustrated in Figure 16. The !:i.V for an insertion
trajectory into Mars for the manned mission (Figure 16b) is !:i.V = 3.7 km/sec. Each
manned trajectory assumes a 180-day transit time .
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Figures 16. Mars Trajectories (X-coordinates defined in direction of Aries): (a) 2029 cargo mission; (b)
2031 manned lander to Mars ; (c) 2033 manned return to Earth ; (d) 2035 manned lander to Mars, if necessary
(courtesy Positronics Research LLC) 52
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