Perhaps the opening is now for the greatest of all space adventures to be partaken by the two countries. The cause of space is meant to unite, not divide.
In the last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a series of speeches and press conferences that indicate a growing interest in developing Russian space capabilities beyond where they are. Already the second most powerful spacefaring nation in the world, with China rapidly catching up, Moscow is looking to both cement its standing and possibly to reach parity with the United States.
One such statement made by Putin concerned the development of Russia’s nuclear propulsion for spacecraft—specifically, nuclear pulse detonation.
Long a curiosity of scientists going back to the early decades of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, both Washington and Moscow experimented with nuclear pulse detonation propulsion for spacecraft. Famously, the U.S. military wanted to build a manned spacecraft powered by controlled nuclear explosions—violently propelling the spacecraft through the cold, dark recesses of space.
“Project Orion” Envisioned a Nuclear Bomb-Propelled Spacecraft
Known as Project Orion, physicist Freeman Dyson and a team from General Atomics ran the project for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the 1950s and early 1960s. The design called for small nuclear bombs—Dyson referred to these as “pulse bits”—to be ejected behind the spacecraft and detonated at precise intervals.
In the 1950s, when Dyson was first working on the program, he advocated using low-yield nuclear devices (in the 0.1-10 kiloton range). His vision was for these Orion-type spacecraft, powered by nuclear pulse detonation engines, to take American astronauts to Mars by the 1960s, Saturn by the 1970s, and perhaps even nearby stars, like Alpha Centauri, by the 2000s.
The nuclear explosions in space would create plasma shockwaves that would push against a large, heavily shielded “pusher plate” at the rear of the spacecraft, transferring momentum to propel it forward. In other words, the proposed Orion spacecraft would ride the shockwave generated by the nuclear blasts all the way to its intended destination.
That pusher plate would be connected to shock absorbers to mitigate the intense forces and protect the crew and structure. At the time of Orion’s proposal, the spacecraft would have required materials and designs capable of withstanding repeated nuclear blasts.
While Dyson believed they could have developed such a ship—at great economic and political cost—it would have been a truly herculean task on the part of the United States to achieve the vision that the Orion team had created for itself.
It was theorized that nuclear pulse detonation as a form of propulsion for manned deep spaceflight missions could achieve much higher specific impulse compared to conventional chemical rockets. These would, in turn, enable faster—and cheaper—interplanetary and, eventually, interstellar travel. The design could theoretically support massive spacecraft weighing thousands of tons, capable of carrying large crews, equipment, or colonies.
Dyson’s team theorized that their proposed Orion spacecraft could reach speeds ranging from three-to-five percent of the speed of light, making trips to Mars or even the distant outer solar system feasible within months. If it had been carried through to fruition—and, crucially, if it had worked—the system might even have supported the construction of permanent infrastructure across the solar system—laying the groundwork for large-scale human spaceflight, further and further afield.
Ultimately, the program, which was jointly funded by both NASA and the United States Air Force, was scuppered during the Kennedy administration due to political concerns. The use of nuclear weapons for propulsion at the height of the nuclear-armed Cold War, near the upper atmosphere, would have been a violation of the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty, which prohibited nuclear explosions in space and the atmosphere.
The U.S. and Russian Space Programs Are Very Different Today
Today, however, we are living in a new world.
It is not any safer in 2025 than it was in 1963, when the Partial Test Ban Treaty was enacted. But there is a leader in the White House that has the most pro-space outlook of any president since at least Ronald Reagan—and this president, Donald Trump, has a uniquely healthy working relationship with the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin.
With the United States and Russian Federation being the two most powerful nuclear weapons states in the world, it would not be difficult to bring these two powers together in a joint development project to make Dyson’s Project Orion a reality.
It is particularly notable that one of Putin’s recent media comments with regard to space was in praise of Elon Musk and his intended mission of establishing a permanent human presence on Mars. Indeed, when asked by Russian media if there were similar Russian plans, Putin said it was a Russian dream to put their boots on the Red Planet’s surface. But, as Putin realistically estimated, Russia currently lacks the requisite “materials” to achieve this task.
Taking both Putin’s comments about nuclear propulsion in space, and his praise of Elon Musk and SpaceX’s stated mission of landing humans on Mars soon, perhaps the opening is now for the greatest of all space adventures to be partaken by the two countries. The cause of space is meant to unite, not divide. And the mission is so dangerous and complex, that entirely new technologies will be needed to get us to these distant, alien worlds.
Could America Develop Pulse Detonation Technology with Russia?
And unlike in the 1960s, new technology is at our fingertips. With Russia’s vast Rare Earth Mineral resources and industrious scientific base, paired with America’s vision and its lead in space, the United States and Russia could endeavor to build the Orion spacecraft together.
We could feed off each other, pushing our respective space programs to entirely new heights, all to place our citizens on the red surface of Mars—before the Chinese can.
The bitter disagreements of the past—even the very recent past—need not define our future. The United States and Russia should not only go to Mars as a team. They should build a nuclear pulse detonation spacecraft to achieve this most complex mission together.
If we don’t do this with Moscow, then Russia will do it anyway. And they might partner with the Chinese, thereby end-running America’s otherwise dominant position in space. The only thing worse than a united China-Russia alliance on Earth is a powerful China-Russia alliance in the cosmos. That future must be avoided at all costs.
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert, a Senior National Security Editor at The National Interest as well as a contributor at Popular Mechanics, who consults regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including the Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, the Asia Times, and countless others. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.Image: Wikimedia Commons.
