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With nuclear technology set to underpin new developments in space travel, NASA has awarded Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation a contract to manufacture and test fuel and develop the design of a nuclear thermal propulsion engine for near-term missions. Separately, Space Nuclear Power Corporation has partnered with Lockheed Martin Corporation and BWX Technologies for the US Space Force/Air Force's JETSON nuclear electric propulsion demonstration project, while Framatome has announced the creation of a new brand, Framatome Space.

Date: Saturday, 21 October 2023
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Nuclear-companies-sign-up-for-space-technology-mis

An artist’s rendition of KiloPower reactors powering a human habitat on Mars. Courtesy SpaceNukes/NASA/Los Alamos. The US government’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has signed an agreement to licence its Kilopower space reactor technology to Space Nuclear Power Corporation (SpaceNukes), a move it says will speed up a nuclear reactor technology that could be used to fuel deep-space exploration and possibly power human habitats on the Moon or Mars.

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.

Date: Saturday, 07 November 2020
Original article: nucnet.org/news/new-us-company-to-develop-los-alamos-kilopower-reactor-11-5-2020

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.

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.

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.

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. 

Date: Tuesday, 08 May 2018
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsnasa-announces-successful-test-of-its-kilopower-reactor-6141223

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