Space Orbiting Advanced Fusion Power Reactor

The preconceptual design of a Space Orbiting Advanced Fusion Power Reactor (SOAR), which delivers up to 1000 MWe for at least 600 s from an orbited mass of about 500 tonnes, was accomplished.^The power is produced by a magnetically confined D-3He plasma.^Approximately 96% of the fusion energy is in charged particles, and a direct converter has been designed which converts much of this energy into electricity at high net efficiency (about 80%).^An advanced shield design allows SOAR to deliver approximately 2 kilowatts of electricity for every kilogram of material orbited.^The shield is designed to absorb all rejected heat during operation, and no active radiator is required.^The SOAR reactor concept is designed to allow rapid startup and shutdown procedures.^The lack of radioactivity on launch and the low radioactive inventory after operation make the SOAR concept attractive from maintenance, safety and environmental perspectives.^The plasma physics approach extrapolates from the present plasma physics and fusion technology knowledge base using concepts which can be tested on existing or near-term devices.^The symbiosis of burst mode requirements, D-3He tandem mirror fusion reactor characteristics, and the space environment leads to a very high performance design concept.