A new fusion rocket concept, funded by NASA, is generating a little press:

Scientists develop fusion rocket technology in lab – and aim for Mars

Researchers at the University of Washington say they’ve built all the pieces for a fusion-powered rocket system that could get a crew to Mars in 30 days.

The concept is straightforward enough. It’s a variant of the inertial confinement class of fusion rocket. In this particular concept, magnetic fields slam down on aluminum or lithium rings. The rings are very rapidly collapsed inwards by the magnetic field. The momentum of the imploding metal ring is theoretically enough to spark enough heat and pressure in a magnetically suspended  deuterium plasma to create fusion conditions.Importantly, the metal ring also absorbs most of the fusion products; it gets vaporized and stripped of electrons, and directed aft by the magnetic fields. This is an efficient way to couple the reaction to the spacecraft without impinging hot gases on physical structures.

Performance is not spectacular, as fusion engines tend to go… specific impulse of 2,440 to 5,720 seconds. But it ranks up there with the best of the Orion systems.

Some of their publications are HERE.