The Case for Architecting Space Nuclear Propulsion Missions and Vehicles That Incorporate In-Space Servicing, Assembly and Manufacturing Principles
Concepts for Space Nuclear Propulsion (SNP) vehicles are currently being matured for crewed and cargo missions to Mars and deep space. SNP vehicles are large and massive systems that cannot be orbited by a single launch or packaged in a single launch vehicle fairing. Thus, the ve
Selection note: Curated because “The Case for Architecting Space Nuclear Propulsion Missions and Vehicles That Incorporate In-Space Servicing, Assembly and Manufacturing Principles” covers in-space assembly, nuclear thermal propulsion, ISAM, MARVL; it materially informs GShips work on nuclear propulsion isam.
Evidence boundary: NTRS provides open full text, but this conference paper was screened for curation rather than independently or domain reviewed; inclusion is contextual, not automatic claim evidence.
Stable record
ntrs-20240013883
Topic
assembly-logistics
Type
Conference Paper
Publisher
Langley Research Center
Authors
Julia Cline; John Dorsey
Year
2025
Editorial state
metadata curated editorial draft
Reviewer
GShips Project editorial synthesis
Official link checked
2026-07-25
Source-supplied abstract
Concepts for Space Nuclear Propulsion (SNP) vehicles are currently being matured for crewed and cargo missions to Mars and deep space. SNP vehicles are large and massive systems that cannot be orbited by a single launch or packaged in a single launch vehicle fairing. Thus, the vehicle must be aggregated and assembled on orbit. Technologies for In-space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) are maturing at a rapid rate and can provide significant benefits to SNP mission and vehicle architectures. However, incorporating ISAM into SNP architectures has not been explored in great detail as of late. In this work, we propose conducting a comprehensive architecture study that assesses using ISAM capabilities from the onset of both SNP mission and vehicle design to realize benefits and identify technology gaps.
Abstract text has not been adopted as a GShips conclusion.
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NTRS provides open full text, but this conference paper was screened for curation rather than independently or domain reviewed; inclusion is contextual, not automatic claim evidence.
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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.