Lockheed Martin Compact Fusion Reactor Update with Video of Technical Presentation made at Princeton

Lockheed Martin Skunkworks is developing a compact fusion reactor concept, CFR. The novel magnetic cusp configuration would allow for stable plasmas in a geometry amenable to economical power plants and power sources. The details of the CFR configuration will be discussed along with a status of the current plasma confinement experiments underway at Lockheed. The presentation will also touch on the potential of a fast development path and challenges to bring such a device to fruition.

The high beta fusion reactor (also known as the 4th generation prototype T4) is a project being developed by a team led by Charles Chase of Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works. The "high beta" configuration allows a compact fusion reactor design and speedier development timeline.

The chief designer and technical team lead for the Compact Fusion Reactor (CFR) is Thomas McGuire, who did his PhD dissertation on fusors at MIT. McGuire studied fusion as a source of space propulsion in graduate school in response to a NASA desire to improve travel times to Mars.