The Expected Efficiency of Burning of the D-He3 Fuel in Space Propulsion Systems

M.L. Shmatov

It is shown that the efficiency j(D-He³) of burning of the D-He³ fuel in space propulsion system can be about 0.2 and higher when the fuel is compressed to a rather modest density r of about 300 g/cm³ or even less. It is also shown that the requirements on j(D-He³) and r can be the factors limiting the number of the D-He³ microexplosions ignited by or with the use of microexplosions.

Keywords: Nuclear pulse propulsion, He³