Rolls-Royce awarded funding for nuclear Micro-Reactor

The new £4.8m award from NSIP Major Projects will help to advance the development and demonstration of key technologies in the nuclear Micro-Reactor for space.

The Rolls-Royce National Space Innovation Programme will have a total project cost of £9.1m and aims to progress the Micro-Reactor’s overall technology readiness level, which will bring the reactor closer to a full system space flight demonstration.

In a statement, Jake Thompson, director of Novel Nuclear & Special Projects, Rolls-Royce, said: “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.”

Over the next 18 months, in collaboration with partners from Bangor and Oxford Universities, the project will develop the whole system design, underlying capabilities and key technologies.