Rolls-Royce has been working on the Micro-Reactor program “to develop the technology that will provide the power humans need to live and work on the Moon.”
Lorenzo Di Cola Nurphoto Getty Images
LONDON – Britain’s space agency said Friday it will support research by Rolls-Royce see the use of nuclear power on the moon.
In a statement, the government agency said that researchers from Rolls-Royce have been working on the Micro-Reactor program “to develop the technology that will provide the power necessary for humans to live and work on the Moon.”
UKSA will now provide £2.9 million (about $3.52 million) in funding for the project, which it says will “deliver an initial demonstration of the UK’s lunar modular nuclear reactor.”
The new money is made up of £249,000 provided by UKSA to fund studies in 2022.
“All space missions depend on resources, to support communication systems, life support and science experiments,” he said.
“Nuclear power has the potential to dramatically increase the duration of future Lunar missions and their scientific value.”
Rolls-Royce is set to work with a number of organizations on the project, including the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Center and Nuclear AMRC, and the University of Oxford.
“Developing space nuclear power provides a unique opportunity to support innovative technologies and develop the nuclear skills base, space science and engineering,” said Paul Bate, chief executive of the UK Space Agency.
Bate added that Rolls-Royce’s research “could lay the foundations for a continued human presence on the Moon, while boosting the wider UK space sector, creating jobs and generating more investment.”
According to UKSA, Rolls-Royce — not to be confused with Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, which is owned by BMW – aimed “to have the reactor ready to be sent to the Moon by 2029.”
The news out of the UK comes as NASA continues to move forward with the Artemis program, which focuses on creating what it calls “a sustainable presence on the Moon in preparation for a mission to Mars.”
NASA is working with international and commercial partners on Artemis. In July 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon.