Nuclear pulse propulsion is a technology that would work ... fusion bombs could achieve effective exhaust velocities of 750–7,500 km/s, depending on pusher plate efficiency. Getting to 1% of the speed ...

1. Nuclear Pulse Propulsion (e.g., Project Orion) Description: This concept, developed in the 1950s and 1960s, uses nuclear explosions (typically fission bombs) detonated behind a spacecraft to propel ...