Rolls-Royce to Build ‘Micro-Reactor’ for Nuclear-Powered Mars Travel
22:46 GMT 09.02.2023 (Updated: 11:32 GMT 08.06.2024)
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Luxury automobile maker Rolls-Royce has announced plans to build a miniature nuclear reactor to power a Mars-bound spaceship, saying it will put the first such device into space by 2029.
The project is being undertaken in conjunction with the UK Space Agency, which aims to make the island nation into a major player in the burgeoning new space race. The two announced their partnership on a nuclear spaceship engine in 2021.
"Rolls-Royce is the only company in the world with a singular focus on creating mechanical, electrical and nuclear power solutions that will be essential in tackling the challenges of the future," the company said in a Friday news release. "Space is one such challenging and growing sector in which Rolls-Royce believe power, propulsion and thermal management will play a significant role."
A Rolls-Royce Micro-Reactor is designed to use an inherently safe and extremely robust fuel form. Each uranium particle is encapsulated in multiple protective layers that act as a containment system, allowing it to withstand extreme conditions.https://t.co/OOc9kBGXDx pic.twitter.com/wkXmZgzhrs
— Rolls-Royce (@RollsRoyce) January 27, 2023
Rolls-Royce’s micro-reactor, which will run on uranium and be similar to that used on submarines, is hoped to be able to power a spacecraft bound for Mars or another world. Competitors, such as the US-based SpaceX, have chosen to use chemical fuel for the Mars-bound spacecraft they are developing.
“Space nuclear power and propulsion is a game-changing concept that could unlock future deep-space missions that take us to Mars and beyond,” USKA Chief Executive Graham Turnock said in the release. “This study will help us understand the exciting potential of atomic-powered spacecraft, and whether this nascent technology could help us travel further and faster through space than ever before.”
Although known for its luxury automobiles, Rolls-Royce long ago turned itself into a multi-domain engineering firm, building everything from aircraft engines to nuclear reactors. The company is also working on a small modular nuclear reactor that uses light water (H2O) rather than the heavy water (D2O) most typically used to moderate nuclear reactions.
"A Rolls-Royce Micro-Reactor is designed to use an inherently safe and extremely robust fuel form," the company said on Twitter.
"Each uranium particle is encapsulated in multiple protective layers that act as a containment system, allowing it to withstand extreme conditions."
Space probes have been powered by radioactive fuel for decades, but have typically used the heat generated by nuclear decay, although both the US and Soviet Union tested placing nuclear reactors in orbit.
Both the US and China have said they aim to place nuclear reactors on the moon before the decade is out, as part of the beginnings of a permanent human base on the lunar satellite.
