Growing interest in new classes of military and civil space systems which demand substantial increases in power over current satellites is generating a renewed interest in space qualified nuclear power systems. Indeed, one can say that power is a limiting technology to the achiev
Selection note: Curated as historical requirements context showing how poorly defined civil and military power demands can constrain nuclear-system development and create dual-use pressures.
Evidence boundary: NTRS lists open full text, but this pass did not validate the 1984 requirements or endorse surveillance, anti-jam, military, or offensive applications. It is dual-use history, not design authority or claim evidence.
Stable record
ntrs-19850005573
Topic
power-thermal
Type
Conference Paper
Publisher
Legacy CDMS
Authors
Redd, F. J.; Fornoles, E. V.
Year
1984
Editorial state
metadata curated editorial draft
Reviewer
GShips Project editorial synthesis
Official link checked
2026-07-25
Source-supplied abstract
Growing interest in new classes of military and civil space systems which demand substantial increases in power over current satellites is generating a renewed interest in space qualified nuclear power systems. Indeed, one can say that power is a limiting technology to the achievement of many future goals in space. The speed of nuclear power system development is currently limited by the lack of a clear distinct definition of system requirements. Emerging system requirements are discussed for the following fields: robust surveillance systems, survivable communication systems with anti-jam capabilities, electric propulsion systems, and weapons applications.
Abstract text has not been adopted as a GShips conclusion.
What would change this record?
A newer or corrected version, a retraction, a verified duplicate, a material topic mismatch, a changed access state, or claim-level review would trigger a dated editorial update.
NTRS lists open full text, but this pass did not validate the 1984 requirements or endorse surveillance, anti-jam, military, or offensive applications. It is dual-use history, not design authority or claim evidence.
Source-supplied titles, abstracts, authors, and dates may require correction against the canonical full text.
What would change this page?
A newer or corrected version, retraction, verified duplicate, material topic mismatch, changed access state, or claim-level assessment would change this record.
People, review, and conflicts
Prepared by
GShips Project
Editorial status
metadata-curated-editorial-draft
Editorial reviewer
GShips Project editorial synthesis
Last editorial review
No editorial-review date recorded
Independent review
pending
Independent reviewer
No independent reviewer assigned
Last independent review
No independent-review date exists
Last content edit
Not recorded separately
Official source or link verified
2026-07-25
Declared conflicts
The maintainer intends to explore a commercial venture based on some GShips work. No entity, outside funding, customer, sponsor, or indexed-organization relationship currently exists.