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. 

According to Rolls-Royce, the programme will enable the UK’s participation in the developing space nuclear power markets and demonstrate the UK’s capability and readiness to produce a detailed design. An initial flight demonstration is anticipated by the end of this decade.

To realise global ambitions in space, reliable power and propulsion is needed. Limitations of existing power sources, such as solar, creates operational challenges to which nuclear fission reaction technologies are widely considered the solution, and an essential enabler for lunar surface activity.

Dr Paul Bate, CEO of the UK Space Agency, said: “New projects like this one, led by Rolls-Royce, go to the heart of what we want to achieve as a national space agency that supports cutting-edge innovation, spreads opportunity across the UK and delivers the benefits of space back to citizens on Earth.”

This latest investment follows the announcement of £1.18m awarded to Rolls-Royce from the UK Space Agency in April 2024, under Phase 2 of the International Bi-Lateral Fund. This was preceded by £2.9m of funding awarded in 2023 under the Lunar Surface Nuclear Power Contract and Phase 1 of the IBF project in 2023, which delivered an initial concept of a UK lunar modular nuclear reactor.