University spin-off develops nuclear-waste power units for Mars rover by 2030
Perpetual Atomics, a University of Leicester spin-off, is creating nuclear-waste-based power modules for spacecraft, intended for the Rosalind Franklin Mars rover scheduled for launch by 2030.
Solar arrays cannot sustain missions in permanently dark lunar craters or the distant Solar System, driving interest in compact nuclear power sources. Researchers at Perpetual Atomics, emerging from the University of Leicester, are turning by-products of terrestrial nuclear reactors into small generators for space use. The technology is slated to power the Rosalind Franklin rover, which NASA plans to send to Mars by 2030. A Nature film follows the project as a potential solution for deep-space energy needs.
Why it matters
Nuclear-waste power could let probes reach dark or distant locations that solar energy cannot sustain.
In this story
