55. Fred Kennedy: Bringing the Nuclear Renaissance to Space

In this episode, Peter Garretson hosts Dr. Fred Kennedy, CEO of Dark Fission. Fred discusses his career and vision for space exploration, emphasizing the importance of developing nuclear thermal propulsion technology to enable more ambitious missions beyond low Earth orbit. He explores the historical challenges and delays in nuclear thermal propulsion development, while advocating for investment in all forms of nuclear propulsion and power systems to maintain U.S. competitiveness in space. They conversation covers a number of advanced nuclear propulsion ideas and explores the story behind ROAR and DRACO at DARPA, including the unfortunate recent demise of DRACO. They also discuss the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) original ‘deterrence layer,’ including an Advanced Maneuvering Vehicle. The episode concludes with discussions about funding strategies, potential partnerships, the need to remove regulatory barriers to allow American ingenuity to drive space exploration forward, and a grand strategy discussion about humanity’s expansion into the solar system.