Engineering:TEM (nuclear propulsion)

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Short description: Nuclear propulsion project


Transport and Energy Module (TEM)
Two configurations layouts "Zeus" nuclear space tug on MAKS-2021 airshow.jpg
Generation Generation IV
Reactor conceptGas-cooled reactor (GCR)
Designed byKeldysh Research Center
Rosatom
Roscosmos
NIKIET institute
Manufactured byKeldysh Research Center
NIKIET institute
StatusUnder development
Main parameters of the reactor core
Fuel (fissile material)Information missing
Fuel stateSolid
Neutron energy spectrumThermal
Primary coolanthelium 78% - xenon 22% [1]
Reactor usage
Primary useGeneration of electricity for propulsion
Power (thermal)3.8 MW
Power (electric)1 MWe (BWR-1)

TEM (Russian: Транспортно-энергетический модуль, "transport and energy module\unit", NPPS in English) is an under development nuclear propulsion spacecraft with the intention to facilitate the transportation of large cargoes in deep space.[2] It will be constructed by the Russian Keldysh Research Center,[3] NIKIET (Research and Design Institute of Power Engineering) institute,[4] and Rosatom.

Mission

A Russian project to create an uncrewed nuclear electric rocket spaceship for Solar system exploration. The first reactor tests are scheduled for the early 2020s; as of May 2020, the first orbital flight test of the reactor is planned for no earlier than 2030.[3] The first mission, named Zeus, is envisioned to operate for 50 months and deliver payloads to the Moon, Venus, and Jupiter through multiple gravity assists.[5]

Specifications

Reactor

Spacecraft

Project history

  • 2009 – Project started.
  • March 2016 – First batch of nuclear fuel received[citation needed]
  • October 2018 – Successful initial tests of the water droplet radiator system[citation needed]
  • May 2021 – Zeus mission proposed by Roscosmos and the Russian Academy of Sciences

See also

References

External links