British industrial group Rolls-Royce has received £2.9m (€3.3m) in funding from the UK Space Agency to develop small nuclear reactors for future lunar bases.
Rolls-Royce scientists and engineers are working on the microreactor program to develop technology that will provide the energy needed for humans to live and work on the Moon.
The group expects the first reactor, which will be about the size of a car, to be ready for shipment to the Moon by 2029.
Fifty years after the last Apollo mission, the return of humans to the Moon is becoming more and more real. NASA announced in early March that the “Artemis II” space mission will take astronauts to the moon in November 2024. However, it is still waiting for the “Artemis III” mission to land on the moon, which is officially planned for 2025.
“Nuclear energy can significantly increase the duration and scientific value of future lunar missions,” said Rolls-Royce, which cooperates with several British universities.
Rolls-Royce is also working on small scale nuclear reactors to produce electricity on Earth.
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