The NIF reactor currently is the size of a large building. Barring another major breakthrough, it's going to take a long time to achieve the orders of magnitude size reduction required for a flight ready fusion reactor.
We built and mothballed flight ready fission reactors and engines (SNAP, NERVA) in the 60s. Perhaps we should be revisiting those while we wait for fusion reactor technology to catch up?
cstmoore t1_j0nfxhl wrote
Reply to comment by Gari_305 in Nuclear fusion breakthrough: What does it mean for space exploration? by Gari_305
"Heavy components…"
The NIF reactor currently is the size of a large building. Barring another major breakthrough, it's going to take a long time to achieve the orders of magnitude size reduction required for a flight ready fusion reactor.
We built and mothballed flight ready fission reactors and engines (SNAP, NERVA) in the 60s. Perhaps we should be revisiting those while we wait for fusion reactor technology to catch up?