AAWSAP DIRD, Aneutronic Fusion Propulsion II, November 2010

This Defense Intelligence Reference Document, dated 1 November 2010, was prepared by the Defense Intelligence Agency's Defense Warning Office under the Advanced Aerospace Weapons System Applications program. It reviews fusion plasma physics, confinement methods and propulsion concepts that use aneutronic fusion fuels such as hydrogen and boron-11. It concludes that pulsed DPF or IEC thrusters may replace satellite ion thrusters in the near term. It also finds that aneutronic fusion propulsion will not be practical beyond the solar system without breakthrough propulsion physics.

From the source:Release of 2026-09-18 Incident: 11/1/10, 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 revisits aneutronic fusion propulsion in a more systems-oriented manner, arguing that fusion concepts using low-neutron fuels such as proton-boron or helium-3 could become attractive for space propulsion because they reduce shielding burdens and may support direct conversion of charged-particle energy into thrust or onboard power. The report reviews the relevant fusion plasma physics and focuses on several candidate confinement approaches, then connects those concepts to possible applications in near-space, orbital, and interplanetary propulsion. It presents the most plausible nearer-term use as very high-power electric or plasma propulsion for satellites and deep-space missions rather than atmospheric flight or interstellar travel, while emphasizing that major obstacles remain in ignition, sustained confinement, system mass, power handling, fuel storage, launch integration, and end-to-end engineering.

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Figure 18. ITER Design Concept With BWR Size and Blanket Segment
NASA PROGRAMS
From 1995 until 2002, NASA had funded advanced space propulsion studies through
Marshall Space Flight Center. These studies included the application of fusion and
matter-antimatter propulsion for space exploration missions. Recently, NASA has
initiated a 5-year high-power electric propulsion demonstration program to develop the
technologies for manned missions to Mars in a 20-plus-year timeframe. The program
funding may allow initiatives for (p, 11 B) fusion-assisted propulsion, which may provide
significant gains in thrust and Isp without reductions in thrust per watt expended.
PRIVATELY FUNDED PROGRAMS
There are a number of capital investment startups that have been developing fusion
reactor technology with funding of several million dollars to greater than $50 million
each. All these companies are basing their development on unique concepts or those
described in Chapter 3. Table 4 summarizes these companies. Both Lawrenceville
Plasma Physics (which uses DPF, dense plasma focus, confinement) and TriApha
(which uses beam-heated FRC, field reversed configuration) have been shown
conceptually to have low-mass aneutronic fusion propulsion systems that could use
direct conversion for power and plasma ion for propulsion. Their success in the next few
years may accelerate the implementation of aneutronic fusion propulsion.
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