Periodically, The Cipher Brief will explore outside-the-box technologies and unusual, sometimes weird, scientific innovations. You’ll see how the boundaries between reality and fantasy are growing thinner every day.
Today’s Topic: Laser-Powered Nuclear Fusion Jet Engines
People need to get places, and they need to do so quickly. Since the supersonic Concorde was discontinued in 2003, there have been few options for extremely rapid air travel. Today’s aerospace industry is seeking new ways to provide that service. Airbus is actively trying to develop hypersonic commercial jets, but when it comes to pure off-the-wall inventiveness, you have to look toward Boeing. In June, Boeing received a patent for an ambitious new mode of propulsion: a laser-powered nuclear fusion-fission jet engine. At first glance, that looks like a jumble of technobabble, but it actually describes an innovative system of linked technologies.
The engine works by shooting lasers at a radioactive pellet to cause nuclear fusion, which would then generate thrust by superheating the surrounding air and channeling it out the back of the engine. The inside of the engine would be coated in a fissile material. Which undergoes nuclear fission when struck by particles released during nuclear fusion. To be clear, this is very close to how thermonuclear bombs work. The energy released by the fission reaction then would be used to power the lasers that started the whole process. Taken together, this engine could conceivably allow for energy efficient, low polluting, hypersonic commercial air travel.
However, there are some significant hurdles still to overcome before such an engine could ever be put to use. First and foremost, the engine depends on nuclear materials, which pose significant issues of consumer confidence and safety. This may be less of a problem when applied to missiles or spacecraft, but it could easily prevent any commercial aviation applications for this technology. By far the largest hurdle is that no one has developed a technology that can reliably and safely induce nuclear fusion on the scale that this engine would require. Without such a technology, Boeing’s engine could not work.
Currently, Boeing’s patent seems to be nothing more than a placeholder meant to give it primacy in the event that such an engine ever comes into being. It also implies that aerospace companies are actively pursuing more creative means of moving their jets. We’ll keep an eye out to see if the research yields intriguing new designs and innovations.
Luke Penn-Hall is an analyst with The Cipher Brief.
