Space & Physics

NASA Selects Three Companies To Electrify The Moon With Nuclear Power 

NASA and the US Department of Energy have signed contracts with three companies that developed the concept of creating nuclear energy on the moon.

These are Lockheed Martin, Westinghouse and IX, which will each receive about $5 million to finance the design of a nuclear power system.

It is noted that the nuclear separation system with a capacity of 40 kilowatts should operate on the surface of the moon for at least 10 years. NASA hopes to test the system on the moon later this decade.

If the tests are successful, the development can be used to power long-term missions to the Moon and Mars as part of the Artemis program.

Under 12-month contracts, Lockheed Martin will partner with BWXT and Creare.  Westinghouse will team up with Aerojet Rocketdyne, while IX (a joint venture between Intuitive Machines and X-Energy) will work with Maxar and Boeing.

Lockheed Martin was one of three companies selected by the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency last year to develop nuclear-powered spacecraft.

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