Let's say your rocket is a mass driver, throwing rocks out the back end with electromagnets. You need two things: one is an energy source to power the electromagnets, like some kind of nuclear reactor, and the other is a big pile of rocks.
The big problem for a rocket is that it's not just carrying the payload and reactor fuel, it's also carrying that big pile of rocks. For a given exhaust velocity, the faster you want to go, the bigger that rock pile has to be, which is even harder to push, and the challenge just multiplies. If you're trying to get to another star it's practically impossible.
A reactionless drive would still have the nuclear reactor, but it gets rid of the big pile of rocks. Now higher speed no longer means you need a bigger rock pile, it just means you run the nuclear reactor longer. You'll need more reactor fuel but with the mass driver you needed that plus the bigger rock pile. Now you just need more reactor fuel, and that's relatively minor.
So yeah, it'd be a huge technological breakthrough, if it actually works.
Let's say your rocket is a mass driver, throwing rocks out the back end with electromagnets. You need two things: one is an energy source to power the electromagnets, like some kind of nuclear reactor, and the other is a big pile of rocks.
The big problem for a rocket is that it's not just carrying the payload and reactor fuel, it's also carrying that big pile of rocks. For a given exhaust velocity, the faster you want to go, the bigger that rock pile has to be, which is even harder to push, and the challenge just multiplies. If you're trying to get to another star it's practically impossible.
A reactionless drive would still have the nuclear reactor, but it gets rid of the big pile of rocks. Now higher speed no longer means you need a bigger rock pile, it just means you run the nuclear reactor longer. You'll need more reactor fuel but with the mass driver you needed that plus the bigger rock pile. Now you just need more reactor fuel, and that's relatively minor.
So yeah, it'd be a huge technological breakthrough, if it actually works.