I imagine the engine has to weigh a lot more though? So only really suited to huge or deep space missions where also having a nuclear reactor is incredibly useful
Oh yah, much heavier, and lower max thrust to, but the whole package is still much lighter considering the huge fuel savings which are most of the mass of the vehicle anyways.
Generally they are mainly intended for longer range missions or where a lot of big maneuvers need to be made. So something that needs to ferry cargo to the moon and back would be an excellent use case.
I imagine the engine has to weigh a lot more though? So only really suited to huge or deep space missions where also having a nuclear reactor is incredibly useful
Oh yah, much heavier, and lower max thrust to, but the whole package is still much lighter considering the huge fuel savings which are most of the mass of the vehicle anyways.
Generally they are mainly intended for longer range missions or where a lot of big maneuvers need to be made. So something that needs to ferry cargo to the moon and back would be an excellent use case.