>>11054301Fusion is still a way off.
Iter is the SLS of Fusion energy. It might get the job done eventually, but it's outdated in terms of tech and inefficient in terms of time and money investement. The fusion startups meanwhile all have slightly different approaches. Most promissing is probably Tokamak Energy and SPARC, but they're still just startups so who knows if they're actually gonna pull through. Other startups just throw unproven technologies at the wall and see what sticks.
I don't even know if anyone is looking into making a fusion drive before we have a proper power plant running. Although I don't know enough about fusion drives to say if it actually depends on the proper reactor technology getting completed.
However I do know a fusion reactor with our current designs is too heavy to put into space, especially if you consider shielding.
Also I don't know if it's a good idea to put ridiculously powerful magnets on board of a spacecraft.
Meanwhile inertial confinement fusion with lasers turned out to be a meme.
