The UK Space Agency has given Rolls-Royce money to create a nuclear reactor for a lunar outpost. The project will investigate the potential for nuclear energy to support an astronaut base on the moon in the future.

Key Points:

• Future lunar missions might potentially last much longer and have greater scientific value thanks to nuclear power, according to the UK Space Agency.

• In order to create the technology that would allow people to live and work on the moon, Rolls-Royce has been developing a Micro-Reactor programme.

• The initiative will now get financing from the UKSA in the amount of £2.9 million, or around $3.52 million.

The microreactor initiative is being worked on by engineers and scientists at the British corporation to create the necessary electricity for people to live and work on the natural satellite of Earth.

A power source is required by every space mission to run the systems that enable communications, life support, and scientific research.

Also Read: Cadillac's $300,000 Celestiq electric vehicle beats Rolls-Royce in performance.

According to experts, lunar missions could last far longer if they used nuclear power.

• The project, which will offer the first demonstration of a UK lunar modular nuclear reactor, will get fresh funding from the UK Space Agency totalling £2.9 million.

• This comes after a £249,000 study that was funded by the UK Space Agency in 2022.

• "Space exploration is the perfect laboratory for so many of the cutting-edge technologies we need on Earth: from materials to robotics, nutrition, cleantech, and much more," said science minister George Freeman.

• In order to develop new energy sources for a lunar base, we are funding interesting research like this lunar modular reactor with Rolls-Royce as we get ready to see the first human return to the moon in more than 50 years.

The UK Space Agency stated in a statement that partnerships like these between British business, the government, and the UK Space Agency "are helping to generate jobs throughout our £16 billion space tech sector and help guarantee the UK continues to be a prominent force in frontier research".

• By 2029, Rolls-Royce hopes to have a reactor ready to go to the moon.

The University of Oxford, the University of Bangor, the University of Brighton, the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) at the University of Sheffield, and the Nuclear AMRC are just a few of the partners it will engage with.

As compared to other power sources, a nuclear microreactor that is very tiny and light would be able to provide electricity continuously regardless of the location, amount of sunshine, and other environmental factors.

"This financing will push us further down the path in making the microreactor a reality, with the technology delivering great advantages for both space and Earth," said Abi Clayton, director of future programmes at Rolls-Royce.

In addition to offering a solution to decarbonize industry and supply clean, safe, and dependable energy, the technology will deliver the capability to serve commercial and defence use cases.

"This groundbreaking study by Rolls-Royce may lay the foundation for powering ongoing human presence on the moon, while benefiting the wider UK space sector, creating employment and driving more investment," said Dr Paul Bate, chief executive of the UK Space Agency.