Editing Nuclear electric rocket (section)

==History==
===United States===
A 1963 paper by [[Myron Levoy]] proposed a hybrid nuclear-electric engine design, which would have been able to work both in open-cycle mode as a [[Nuclear thermal rocket|nuclear thermal engine]] during mission phases requiring high thrust, as well as in closed-cycle mode as a nuclear-electric engine with low thrust, but [[Specific impulse|high efficiency]] during remaining mission phases. The proposed application of this engine design was for a fast [[Human mission to Mars|human-crewed round-trip mission to Mars]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Levoy |first=Myron |date=June 1963 |title=Dual Electric-Nuclear Engine |url=https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/3.1783 |journal=[[American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics]] |volume=1 |issue=6 |pages=1298–1302 |doi=10.2514/3.1783 |bibcode=1963AIAAJ...1.1298L |via=Aerospace Research Council}}</ref>

In 2001, the [[Safe affordable fission engine]] was under development, with a tested 30&nbsp;kW nuclear heat source intended to lead to the development of a 400&nbsp;kW thermal reactor with [[Brayton cycle]] gas turbines to produce electric power. Waste heat rejection was intended to be accomplished using low-mass [[heat pipe]] technology. Safety was intended to be assured by a rugged design.{{citation_needed|date=July 2019}}

[[Project Prometheus]] was an early 2000s [[NASA]] study on nuclear electric spacecraft.{{citation_needed|date=July 2019}}

[[Kilopower]] is the latest NASA reactor development program, but is intended for surface use only.{{citation_needed|date=July 2019}}

===Russia===
{{see|TEM (nuclear propulsion)}}
The TEM project started in 2009 with the goal of powering a Mars engine.

March 2016 - First batch of nuclear fuel received{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}