>>13986628Technologically feasible, a DUMBO style tricarbide-groove-ring nuclear thermal rocket could give you an F-1 level of TWR, so on the low end but still workable for a booster, and ISPs in the 6-800 range, not quite as high as a NERVA or Timberwind, but the delta-V gains of having much, much higher thrust will more than make up for having 200s less ISP.
Politically infeasible though, even with the government putting mild support behind developing nuclear rockets now, the red tape will still cause them to be designed, built, tested and flown at a rate so slow they won't be useful for large scale, constant rocketry. As a result they will be outcompeted by conventional rockets based not on thrust or ISP but on simple usability.
