DARPA awards contracts for major spacecraft nuclear propulsion system

DARPA has announced the recipients of its phase-one Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) contracts, an initiative that paves the way for future nuclear thermal propulsion spacecraft systems. In explaining the purpose of its DRACO program, DARPA says that current space propulsion systems aren’t able to offer the ‘rapid maneuver’ capabilities it needs. The first phase of DARPA’s DRACO …