SpaceNukes Wins DARPA Agreement to Test Space Nuclear Reactor
SpaceNukes has secured an agreement with DARPA and Los Alamos National Laboratory to design, build, and test a Kilopower reactor featuring active control rods, moving beyond the 2018 test.
Space nuclear power company SpaceNukes announced that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded it an Other Transaction Agreement under the Fast Capacitance program, known as "FATCAT".
The program is managed by Dr. Tabitha Dodson in DARPA's Defense Sciences Office and aims to develop autonomous nuclear reactor operation for national security missions, according to the company's statement.
Under the agreement, SpaceNukes will work with Los Alamos National Laboratory to design, build, and ground-test a Kilopower reactor featuring active control rod operation, an advancement that goes beyond the passive architecture tested in the "KRUSTY" experiment in 2018.
The program will include design, procurement, and assembly phases leading to the ground test, with assembly taking place at the company's facility in Medina, Ohio, led by Chief Engineer Mark Gibson. The contract value was not disclosed.
What Do These Terms Mean?
Other Transaction Agreement: A contracting instrument used by agencies such as DARPA to fund research and development projects with greater flexibility than traditional government contracts.
Kilopower Reactor: A small nuclear reactor design aimed at providing space missions with electricity, developed by researchers at Los Alamos Laboratory and NASA.
Control Rods: Rods that absorb neutrons inside the reactor to adjust the rate of the nuclear reaction. Active control allows operational adjustments to be made automatically instead of relying on a static design.
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