Indeed, lets first see if we can do fusion right before thinking of doing anything meaningful with antimatter.
I recently learned that most projections for fusion power are deceivingly using thermal output rather than actual electrical output which is a far smaller proportion. Given the amount of power that fusion needs to start itself and sustain itself until there is enough heat generated to take over, ITER will probably not be what I was hoping it would be...
There is actually a start up in US receiving quite a bit of funding to develop cost effective fusion reactors. Basically to oversimplify is their concept relies on extremely (emphasis on extremely) powerful magnets to aid in the fusion process.
I think within next 10-20 years we will have a suitable mass production design.
As for antimatter, it’s a pipe dream. Using anti matter as catalyst for fusion weapon is not the same thing as an anti matter. That’s like saying depleted uranium projectiles is the same thing as firing a nuclear equipped artillery shell.
A true anti matter weapon would combine enough matter and anti matter to sustain a chain reaction on magnitudes (several 100x Tsar bomba). The current nano grams that have been produced couldn’t even boil water.
But let’s just say that one day one does build such a weapons...one has to ask...what would the point of such a weapon be? It would risk totally annihilating the climate on earth for decades (think nuclear winter on steroids). It’s use would basically be the Samson Israeli doctrine to destroy the entire world in case Israel falls military to another country and Western powers don’t aid it.
It could be useful in asteroid mining and defense of comets/asteroids on earth collision trajectories. Also eventually...space ship against ship warfare. But peaceful applications would be anti matter drives. I don’t see anyone thinking anti matter drives are possible before 2100. NASA right now is tinkering around with EM Drives.
Antimatter drives could be useful in eventual warp drives to produce enough of a gravitational field to warp space around the aircraft and create a “bubble” in which time and space are warped around the aircraft at high speeds thus approaching closer to speed of light which would then slow down time for occupants on board by a massive factor (think the movie interstellar black hole gravitational swing to paint a picture).
But with how inept human society is in investing in space exploration (outside of Elon and the snail pace that is NASA) space exploration is basically a bragging rights item in this day and age, rather than a true attempt to move society further along on the
Kardashev scale. We aren’t even a type I civilization. Pretty pathetic considering homo sapien and it’s similar lines have been around for at least 125,000 years.