The Kurchatov Institute is developing a new plasma fusion engine for spacecraft. The creation of the unit has become one of the most important tasks for scientists, said Mikhail Kovalchuk, President of the National Research Center.
According to him, the power plant of a new type will reduce the travel time of ships to other planets by tenfold, create the possibility for manned missions to deep space and open the era of regular cargo flights.
The peculiarity of the technology is the use of an open trap for plasma confinement.
Kovalchuk specified that a prototype of the engine was created at the Kurchatov Institute, and work was continued at the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The topic of space development remains one of the key ones in Russia. In 2025, scientists at the Moscow Aviation Institute developed a unique device that simulates the operation of an electric rocket engine of a spacecraft on Earth.
First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov stated that after the Moon, Venus will be the first planet that the country will begin to explore.