Progress, Potential, and Possibilities Podcast / Show This Fusion Engine Could Change Space Travel Forever | Richard Dinan - CEO - Pulsar Fusion
What if the reason we haven’t explored deep space isn’t because we can’t… but because our engines are fundamentally too slow?
Richard Dinan is Founder and CEO of Pulsar Fusion ( https://pulsarfusion.com/ ) and one of the few entrepreneurs in the world not trying to bring fusion power to Earth… but to space.
While most fusion startups are focused on powering cities, Richard is building engines designed to power spacecraft—fusion propulsion systems that could dramatically cut travel times to Mars, unlock missions to Saturn’s moon Titan, and fundamentally reshape how we explore the solar system.
Pulsar’s flagship efforts—including its Dual Direct Fusion Drive and the Sunbird program—aim to combine high-thrust propulsion with onboard power generation, a combination that could enable entirely new classes of deep-space missions. The company is now working with the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority on advanced neutron shielding and activation modeling—critical challenges for making fusion viable and safe in space.
Backed by the UK Space Agency and collaborating with the European Space Agency, Pulsar is positioning itself at the center of a new space race—one where the bottleneck isn’t getting off Earth… but moving once you’re already out there.
On this episode we talk about why space might be the first place fusion actually works, what it takes to build engines that can survive neutron bombardment, and whether radically faster travel could open up the outer solar system within our lifetime.
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