Welcome to the second installment in our look at the future of propulsion technology. In the first installment, we looked at how nuclear fission and nuclear fusion will likely become the way of the future. These propulsion technologies combine improved thrust and fuel efficiency with shorter transits and less-bulky spacecraft, reducing costs.
These technologies will allow for more rapid robotic missions to Mars, the Asteroid Belt, and the outer Solar System, providing accelerated scientific returns. They'll also enable human missions beyond the Earth-Moon system and could even lead to permanent settlements on the Moon, Mars, and beyond. But this could be just the beginning.
In the long term, humanity may realize some truly exotic forms of propulsion that leverage new advances in technology or physics that go beyond the Standard Model. These proposed systems could enable rapid transit to neighboring star systems and exoplanets, combining immense fuel efficiency and unparalleled energy density with high acceleration rates (aka. delta-v).
To read more, click here.