Daedalus Inertial Fusion Engine
The Daedalus style engines can trace their ancestry to the original magneto-inertial fusion engines of the late 21st century. However, the modern Daedalus engines are significantly more efficient in terms of specific impulse and thermal management. They are also considerable more affordable in the long-term, though initially more expensive than older propulsion systems. The major factors that influenced the mass production of the Daedalus were the increase in availability of the fuel needed for large fusion engines and the the improvements made on laser systems over the 22nd century.
The availability of fuel, in the form of helium-3 and deuterium, comes from the commercialization of asteroid and comet mining, as well as the massive, and profitable, mining operations on the surface of Luna. Due to its proximity to Terra and the accumulation of millions of year of solar wind on its surface, Luna was the largest source of helium-3 in the solar system until the establishment of the robotic atmospheric mining facilities around Jupiter.
Daedalus style engines are a specific class of thermonuclear pulse propulsion. Using a magnetic nozzle to direct the energy released by the laser-inducted detonation of up to 250 fuel pellets per second, these complex thrusters are, in essence, riding on the blastwaves of thousands of miniature nuclear explosions. As the Daedalus engines are not fuelled by radioactive fission materials, the exhaust is not toxic to human life. However, the massive amounts of x-rays released by the fusion reactions within the drive makes it less than ideal to use in an atmosphere or directed at humans for very long.
Most Daedalus Style engines fall within 3 categories, with only a few specific exceptions.
Categories:
- Mark I - Produced and equipped to vessels from 2130 to 2200 and characterized with the 30 meter magnetic nozzles, the Mark I Daedalus engines are still the workhorse engine in the Sol System. Such engines are present on vessels such as the UNSF Star-class frigates
- Mark II - With the first engines being manufactured in 2170 and continuing until the present, the Mark II class engines are much larger than their older model. Most boast a 60 meter magnetic bell, with many using 75 meter bells, and increased efficiency in long burns, making the Mark II a staple of military vessels. An example of such would be the UNSF Nation-class destroyers and their MCN counterpart, the Sabre-class destroyers.
- Mark III - The latest class of Daedalus engine and by far the largest, Mark III's are instantly recognizable with their massive 100 meter magnetic nozzles and the exhaust plume that can extend for hundreds of kilometers behind the vessel. The only common vessels equipped with these monstrosities are the UNSF Unity-class battleships and the Daedalus-class super heavy cargo vessels.
Utility
Like any other propulsion system in use within the solar system, Daedalus engines are used to move large amounts of payload from one destination to another. Daedalus engines are just the most widely used and most affordable drive system for mass production. Older engines, such as the magneto-inertial fusion engines, are still in use on older vessels as retrofitting a Daedalus engine to a ship built in the 2110's would be expensive and mainly ineffective.
Manufacturing
The assembly of Daedalus engines are limited to orbital construction facilities around only the most populated and well developed planetary bodies. These include those in orbit around Terra, Venus, and Mars as well as in the second Lagrange point around Luna. Raw materials for the fabrication of Daedalus engines, as well as for other components of starships, are mined either from asteroids in the Belt or from the surface of Luna and then shipped to the construction stations. Most starship construction is automated for efficiency, but Terra has the manpower to employ manned orbital stations.
Social Impact
Building off of the earlier magneto-inertial fusion engines and the even older Orion drive, the Daedalus style engines allowed for the first real affordable way to move large payloads, be that materials or passengers, quickly across the solar system. This technology, first employed on experimental vessels in 2129, ushered in the age of true space colonization. With the habitation of the Belt, construction of Ceres Station, and colonization of the Jovian system all made possible by the introduction of the Daedalus engine and the commercialization of said technology.
The Daedalus style fusion engine was designed and tested by the United Federation of Scientists, while the organization was still based on Terra, during the year 2143. Astra Shipbuilding, a subsidy of ProxGen Inc., was the first corporation to begin manufacturing Daedalus engines in 2154.
By 2267, Daedalus style Inertial fusion engines are the most common propulsion system due to the stability of the technology and the availability of the fuel needed to propel massive vessels. Due to the expansive orbital construction facilities in orbit around Terra, Luna, Mars, and the increase in development within the Jovian system, Daedalus fusion engines are commercially available and produced by a number of companies. Most of the large engines are equipped to military vessels or licensed under a substantial company. However, many smaller commercial and private vessels are fitted with these engines.
Although quite complex, with many components from the electron igniters to the magnetic nozzle that must work perfectly for the engine to work properly, Daedalus style engines are known for both their durability and their reliability. In the year 2267, the average person has a basic understanding of how a Daedalus engine works, but maintenance engineers are usually needed to repair any of the major sections of the engines. That makes engine maintenance facilities common over many mainstream destinations and most colonies have some repair capabilities in case of the rare abnormal engine.
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