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The shipment earlier this year of heat source plutonium-238 from the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to its Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) represents a critical step toward fuelling planned space missions with radioisotope power systems, NASA had said.
- Source: NEI Magazine
- Date: Thursday, 30 November 2023
- Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsnasa-moves-closer-to-use-of-plutonium-238-to-power-space-missions-11335593
Contracts also signed by companies in US
- Source: Nucnet
- Date: Saturday, 21 October 2023
- Original article: nucnet.org/news/framatome-launches-new-brand-in-bid-to-play-decisive-role-10-5-2023
The Kilopower technology was developed at the laboratory in partnership with NASA and the National Nuclear Security Administration. Patrick McClure, who served as project lead for Kilopower at Los Alamos and is now a partner in SpaceNukes, said that by creating a new company, Kilopower’s founders are hoping to be able to reach potential new sponsors “who will want to take this technology to the next level and put it into space”.
Kilopower is a small, lightweight fission power system capable of providing various ranges of power depending on the need. For example, SpaceNukes offers low-kilowatt reactors to power deep space missions, middle-range reactors in the tens of kilowatts to power a lunar or martian habitat, and much larger reactors in the hundreds of kilowatts that could make enough propellant for a rocket to return to Earth after a stay on Mars.
- Source: Nucnet
- Date: Saturday, 07 November 2020
- Original article: nucnet.org/news/new-us-company-to-develop-los-alamos-kilopower-reactor-11-5-2020
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has agreed to license Kilopower space reactor technology to New Mexico company Space Nuclear Power Corporation (SpaceNukes), which aims to commercialise the technology for use in space in the next few years.
- Source: World Nuclear News
- Date: Saturday, 07 November 2020
- Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Los-Alamos-spin-off-to-commercialise-space-reactor
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover successfully launched today from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The rover, which will be powered by a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) developed at the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Idaho National Laboratory (INL), will land on Mars to begin exploration in February 2021.
- Source: World Nuclear News
- Date: Friday, 31 July 2020
- Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Nuclear-powered-rover-sets-off-for-Mars
The US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy has delivered its latest nuclear power system to the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida - the site of NASA’s planned Mars 2020 launch later this summer.
- Source: NEI Magazine
- Date: Tuesday, 16 June 2020
- Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsus-doe-delivers-power-system-for-nasa-mars-launch-7973497
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has delivered the nuclear power system for the Perseverance rover for NASA's Mars 2020 mission which is due to launch next month. The Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) was fuelled, built and tested by DOE's national laboratories.
- Source: World Nuclear News
- Date: Saturday, 13 June 2020
- Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Nuclear-power-system-delivered-for-Mars-rover-laun
The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced on 2 May that it had completed a full power test of its Kilopower reactor, which exceeded government expectations.
- Source: NEI Magazine
- Date: Tuesday, 08 May 2018
- Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsnasa-announces-successful-test-of-its-kilopower-reactor-6141223
The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is to month start testing uranium-fuelled Stirling engines for use in possible future missions to Mars.
- Source: NEI Magazine
- Date: Monday, 20 November 2017
- Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsnasa-looks-to-uranium-fuelled-engines-5981739
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will this month start testing uranium-fuelled Stirling engines for use in possible future missions to Mars. The technology has been developed as part of the Kilopower project.
- Source: World Nuclear News
- Date: Friday, 17 November 2017
- Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/NASA-to-test-prototype-Kilopower-reactor