By Sreejith Vidhyadharan Nair
Publication Date: 2025-11-24 13:31:00
Every year, companies and space agencies send hundreds of rockets into space – and that number is set to increase dramatically with ambitious missions to the moon, Mars and beyond. But those dreams depend on a crucial challenge: propulsion—the methods that propel rockets and spacecraft.
To make interplanetary travel faster, safer and more efficient, scientists need breakthroughs in propulsion technology. Artificial intelligence is one type of technology that has enabled some of these necessary breakthroughs.
We are a team of engineers and graduate students studying how AI in general, and a subset of AI called machine learning in particular, can transform spacecraft propulsion. From optimizing nuclear heat engines to managing complex plasma confinement in fusion systems, AI is transforming propulsion design and operations. It is quickly becoming an indispensable partner in humanity’s journey to the stars.
