Getting to Mars has always been a game of patience. With current propulsion technology, even the fastest missions take around seven to nine months. But a British company says it’s found a way to cut that time in half, or more.
Pulsar Fusion, a UK-based aerospace firm, has revealed the Sunbird, a modular spacecraft powered by a compact pulsar fusion rocket. According to the company, this cutting-edge propulsion system could reach Mars in under four months and make the trip to Pluto in less than four years.
The key innovation lies in how the Sunbird works. Traditional rockets rely on either chemical propulsion or slower electric drives. But the Sunbird uses something far more powerful: nuclear fusion. Specifically, it operates on a principle called a Dual Direct Fusion Drive (DDFD), which produces high-speed plasma that provides both thrust and electricity.
This pulsar rocket doesn’t need to maintain a continuous fusion reaction like power-generating fusion reactors. Instead, it uses pulses of plasma, accelerated through magnetic fields, to generate thrust. And instead of shielding the reaction to trap energy, the Sunbird directs that energy outward for propulsion. In this context, what power engineers consider a flaw, plasma leaking from the ends, is exactly what makes it ideal for space travel.
Even more impressively, the fusion reaction relies on deuterium and helium-3, an aneutronic combination that produces far fewer neutrons and radiation. This makes the system more compact, less hazardous, and more efficient in the long run.
For now, the Sunbird isn’t intended to be a fully integrated rocket. It’s essentially a tug boat in space, a reusable module that can dock with spacecraft in orbit to give them a powerful push. Pulsar plans to launch its first component tests in space by 2027, and ground-based demonstrations could begin later this year.
If successful, this pulsar rocket technology could redefine how we think about space exploration by cutting trip times, reducing costs, and making human missions to distant planets far more feasible than ever before. Considering Trump and Musk seem intent on making getting to Mars our main objective for space exploration, any advantage we can get will be a win.
