Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers (한국추진공학회지)

The Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers (한국추진공학회)
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State of the Art for Space Propulsion Employing Nuclear Power

핵동력 우주추진 기술개발 동향

  • Hong Yeong Park (School of Mechanical Engineering, Graduate School, Pukyong National University) ;
  • Yun Hyeong Kang (School of Mechanical Engineering, Graduate School, Pukyong National University) ;
  • Jeong Soo Kim (School of Mechanical Engineering, Graduate School, Pukyong National University) ;
  • Soo Seok Yang (Aeropropulsion Research Division, Korea Aerospace Research Institute)
  • Received : 2022.10.24
  • Accepted : 2022.11.22
  • Published : 2022.12.31
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Abstract

In this paper, the concept and characteristics of the nuclear propulsion system were introduced and the state of the art for the nuclear-powered space propulsion in abroad were summarized. Since uranium used in nuclear propulsion has a very high energy density per unit mass, it has exceptional specific impulse performance compared to the existing chemical propulsion method and can reduce the amount of fuel loaded, thereby having advantage for long-distance exploration. For this reason, advanced countries in space development are recently spurring to the research of nuclear propulsion technology, and it is judged that the development of a propulsion engine using nuclear power is absolutely necessary in order to gain an competitive edge on the space development.

핵추진 시스템의 개념 및 특징들을 소개하고 해외 핵동력 우주추진 기술개발 동향을 정리하였다. 핵추진 원료로 사용되는 우라늄은 비에너지가 매우 높아 기존 화학추진방식 대비 우수한 비추력 성능을 내고, 탑재되는 연료의 양을 줄일 수 있어 장거리 탐사 시 매우 유리한 이점을 가지고 있다. 이러한 이유로, 최근 우주개발 선도국에서 핵추진 기술 연구에 박차를 가하고 있는바, 우주개발 경쟁에서의 우위를 점하기 위해서도 핵동력을 이용한 추진기관의 개발이 반드시 필요하다고 판단된다.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

본 논문은 과학기술정보통신부의 재원으로 한국연구재단 미래우주교육센터(2022M1A3C2085070)의 지원을 받아 수행된 연구결과임.

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