Russia’s New Nuclear Electric Space Tug

This is the first images of Russia’s New Nuclear Electric Space Tug. The TEM (Transport and Energy Module) is a nuclear electric spacecraft, designed around a gas-cooled high temperature reactor and a cluster of ion engines.

This is a fascinating system with a lot of promise, but has also gone through major changes in the last year that seem to have delayed the program. However, once it’s flight certified (which is to be in the 2030s), Roscosmos is planning on mass-producing the spacecraft for a variety of missions, including cislunar transport services and interplanetary mission power and propulsion.

Begun in 2009, the TEM is being developed by Energia on the spacecraft side and the Keldysh Center on the reactor side. This 1 MWe (4MWt) nuclear reactor will power a number of gridded ion engines for high-isp missions over the spacecraft’s expected 10-year mission life.

First publicly revealed in 2013 at the MAKS aerospace show.