Starting our cislunar journey together

We are building engines that will drive the next century of space commerce.

About Us

We’re committed to building the roads and systems that will span cislunar space. And we’re doing it now.

News

Keep up to date on Dark Fission’s progress.

Work With Us

Whether you’re a prospective investor, customer, partner, or someone who has a desire to come onboard and help us reach our goals, get in touch!

The dark fission nuclear thermal rocket

Ultralightweight. Powerful. Efficient.

The cislunar volume is immense. Transiting it requires both high thrust and substantial fuel efficiency. Transiting it repeatedly – to establish reliable ferry services – demands a lightweight solution which only Dark Fission can provide.

The Time Is Right

The cost of access to low orbit continues to fall. We are focusing on how to leverage this market trend and open the entire cislunar regime to commercial use.

GEO First

Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) is a mature market and domain with unique features. It is not going away – and Dark Fission’s nuclear thermal rocket will make GEO a more attractive place to operate than ever before…

Dark Fission is poised to take the next step into the cosmos.

In five years, we plan to launch an orbital demonstration vehicle powered by a nuclear thermal rocket. It will forever change how we think about moving around in space.

Deep Experience Base

Dark Fission’s founding team and engineering staff have been building and flying space systems for many years. We know what works, and what doesn’t.

A Technology With Heritage

We are building on decades of development in nuclear systems and space propulsion.

A Cislunar Highway System

We are designing the Dark Fission engine to take advantage of the orbital “terrain’ of the Earth-Moon system. We want to get you where you are going quickly, at low cost.

Begin with a simple demo.

Our engineering philosophy draws from our experiences in designing, assembling, testing, and flying complex space systems. Focus on a basic “proof of principle” experiment, then improve. We aim to fly our first orbital transfer vehicle within five years.

Why a nuclear thermal rocket (NTR)?

The NTR’s outstanding performance enables “standard paths” and transport nodes throughout the Earth-Moon system. We intend to create and operate the cislunar equivalent of transcontinental railroads – not a logistically-challenged Pony Express.

Our Team

Dr. Fred Kennedy

Chief Executive Officer

Longtime space systems developer and innovator. Stood up the DoD’s Space Development Agency in 2019.

Michael Jacox

President

Accomplished nuclear engineer, industry leader, and builder of cutting-edge space system components.

Greg Loboda

Chief Operating Officer/Head of Development

Experienced launch system developer and operations lead. Versatile tech entrepreneur and space system manufacturing expert.

Drop us a line.