New Nuclear Rocket Design Developed for a Mars Journey

Metaverse Planet

September 16, 2025

A new nuclear rocket concept developed by scientists, which heats fuel with liquid uranium, could cut the Mars journey in half. This could reduce a trip to Mars to just 6 months.

Engineers at Ohio State University are working on a new nuclear rocket concept that could reduce the travel time to Mars by half. The developed system uses liquid uranium to heat the rocket fuel, providing a faster and more efficient nuclear propulsion.

NASA and its private sector partners aim to establish a regular human presence on the Moon and Mars. However, the future of space travel depends on the development of engines that can propel vehicles faster and over longer distances. At this point, nuclear thermal propulsion technology stands out among new engine solutions that can both significantly shorten travel time and enable the transport of heavier payloads.

Accelerated Travel with Nuclear Propulsion

Nuclear propulsion uses a nuclear reactor to heat liquid fuel to extreme temperatures. This fuel turns into gas and is expelled from a nozzle, creating thrust. The newly developed engine concept, the Centrifugal Nuclear Thermal Rocket (CNTR), heats the fuel directly with liquid uranium. This method promises higher efficiency than both classic chemical rockets and other nuclear propulsion engines.

If the CNTR is successful, future spacecraft will be able to travel longer distances with less fuel. While traditional chemical engines provide about 450 seconds of thrust from a certain amount of fuel (specific impulse), nuclear propulsion engines can reach about 900 seconds. With the CNTR, this value could increase even further. According to researchers, this could reduce a one-year journey to Mars with traditional systems to just 6 months.

In addition, the CNTR will not only provide faster travel but will also be able to use fuels found in space, such as ammonia, methane, hydrazine, or propane. This will make it possible to refuel from asteroids or other celestial bodies. However, the concept is still in the development stage. Engineers are trying to prevent instabilities that might occur during the engine’s start-up, shut-down, and operational processes, and they are looking for ways to minimize the loss of liquid uranium.

Accelerated Travel with Nuclear Propulsion

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