Wurden Fusion Rocket Planetary Defense 2016

This 2016 paper by researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory and other institutions advocates for the development of fusion rocket engines as a critical tool for planetary defense against incoming comets. The authors argue that only fusion propulsion offers the high specific power and exhaust velocities required to intercept and deflect civilization-threatening objects within short, sub-year warning timeframes. Beyond defense, the proposed technology would also enable deep space exploration with significantly higher speeds and payload capacities than current chemical or fission-based rockets.