UK-based global major propulsion and power (including nuclear power) systems group Rolls-Royce has announced that it has been awarded £4.8-million by the UK Space Agency, to further develop and demonstrate core technologies in its space nuclear micro-reactor. The grant was made under the UK Space Agency’s National Space Innovation Programme.

This is the third tranche of funding the company has received from the agency, to advance the space nuclear micro-reactor project. The first tranche, of £2.9-million, was awarded last year, under the UK Space Agency’s Lunar Surface Nuclear Power contract and Phase 1 of its International Bi-Lateral Fund (IBF). The second tranche, of £1.18-million, was given in April this year, under Phase 2 of the IBF. This means that the UK Space Agency has now invested a total of £8.88-million in the micro-reactor programme. Rolls-Royce reported that the complete programme would have a total project cost of £9.1-million.

“We are delighted to win this award from the National Space Innovation Programme and to be continuing our collaboration with the UK Space Agency,” enthused Rolls-Royce Novel Nuclear & Special Projects director Jake Thompson. “This funding is a pivotal point in our micro-reactor programme and will accelerate our technology progression, bringing us a step closer to powering inspiring human endeavours in space. The future of space exploration is greatly dependent on the ability to generate high levels of consistent power and our nuclear micro-reactor is the solution that will offer safe, reliable and flexible power to a broad range of space missions.”

The new funding will allow Rolls-Royce and its academic partners, at the University of Oxford and at Bangor University (in Wales), to advance the micro-reactor’s technology-readiness level. This, in turn, will bring the micro-reactor nearer to a demonstration of the full system in a space flight test.

For the next 18 months the project partners will develop the whole system design for the micro-reactor, as well as its underlying capabilities and critical technologies. The result will clearly show the UK’s capability in the space nuclear power sector and its readiness to advance to the detailed design stage. The initial flight demonstration of the micro-reactor is expected by the end of this decade.

Planned human activities in space will require significant reliable power and propulsion systems. Existing power sources, most obviously solar, have limitations which create operational challenges. For example, one night on the Moon lasts two Earth weeks, while interplanetary spacecraft headed into deep space leave the Sun far behind them. Nuclear fission technologies, which give power independent of the Sun, overcome these challenges.     

“The National Space Innovation Programme will help kickstart growth, create high-quality jobs, protect our planet and preserve the space environment for future generations,” affirmed UK Space Agency CEO Dr Paul Bate. “New projects like this one, led by Rolls-Royce, go to the heart of what we want to achieve as a national space agency that supports cutting-edge innovation, spreads opportunity across the UK and delivers the benefits of space back to citizens on Earth.”