Integration of the Topaz 2 space nuclear reactor with the NEPSTP spacecraft

The Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) has procured several Russian TOPAZ 2 Space Nuclear Reactor Systems (SNRS) for test and evaluate in the US(US). From 1991 to 1993, BMDO examined the possibility of conducting an orbital test of the TOPAZ 2 SNRS. For a variety of reasons including budget pressures and strategic refocusing, BMDO indefinitely deferred flight testing of TOPAZ 2 in June of 1993. In this paper, the authors examine the issues relevant to integrating the TOPAZ 2 SNRS with a spacecraft and show how the Nuclear Electric Propulsion Space Test Program (NEPSTP) spacecraft was designed in consideration of each of these issues