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Can nuclear fuel be used for space rocket launches?

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There have been proposals to use reactors to power rockets. There has never been a launch into Space using a fission reaction. It is thought too dangerous, and the heavy shielding needed to protect the crew makes it impractical. read more

On January 17, Japan fired an earth observation satellite into orbit aboard an Epsilon rocket, the workhorse of the country’s civilian space program. The Epsilon is a Japanese solid-fuel rocket designed to launch scientific satellites. It can place a 1.2 ton payload into low earth orbit. read more

The pulsed nuclear thermal rocket, (not to be confused with nuclear pulse propulsion which is a hypothetical method of spacecraft propulsion that uses nuclear explosions for thrust), is a type of solid nuclear thermal rocket for thrust and specific impulse (I sp) amplification. read more

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