Project Prometheus

Project Prometheus was NASA’s nuclear-power and electric-propulsion development effort associated with the proposed Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter. Managed through JPL with Department of Energy Naval Reactors participation, it investigated reactor-powered spacecraft, electric thrusters, power conversion and heat rejection for demanding deep-space missions. Its final report covers activities from November 2002 through September 2005. NASA deferred the Jupiter mission as costs, technical complexity and near-term exploration priorities were reassessed. In September 2005, NASA and DOE agreed to close the space-reactor engineering work; the wider nuclear technology portfolio was redirected toward lunar exploration. The proposed reactor-powered spacecraft did not fly.