Super-ion-beams and advanced target concepts for thermonuclear microbomb rocket propulsion

Expected advances in the generation of ultraintense ion beams with currents above the Alfvén limit will make possible the ignition of neutron-poor advanced thermonuclear reactions suitable for thermonuclear microbomb propulsion. The superbeams can be produced by magnetically insulated multistage pulse accelerators. The high thermonuclear yields as they are desirable for an efficient propulsion system can be obtained by target staging and autocatalytic detonation. This will make possible the fast economical transportation of large payloads within the solar system.