Rolls-Royce gets £2.9 million from UK Space Agency for nuclear power Moon base research

Rolls-Royce on Friday (March 17) announced that it has received £2.9 million in funding from UK Space Agency for its research into how nuclear power could be used to support a future Moon base for astronauts.

The government of the UK, in an official press release, said it is supporting Rolls-Royce's scientists and engineers on the micro-reactor programme to develop technology that will provide the power needed for humans to live and work on the Moon.

The latest funding follows a £249,000 study funded by the UK Space Agency in 2022. Rolls-Royce plans to have a reactor ready to send to the Moon by 2029.

"Space exploration is the ultimate laboratory for so many of the transformational technologies we need on Earth: from materials to robotics, nutrition, cleantech and much more," stated UK Minister of State at the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, George Freeman.

In a statement, the minister further added that they backing Rolls-Royce ‘to pioneer new power sources for a lunar base’. He also mentioned that such partnerships are helping to create jobs across our £16 billion SpaceTech sector and help ensure the UK continues to be a major force in frontier science.

Rolls-Royce will be working alongside a variety of collaborators including the University of Oxford, the University of Bangor, the University of Brighton, the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) and Nuclear AMRC.

Nuclear space power promises to create new skilled jobs across the UK to support the burgeoning UK space economy.

"This funding will bring us further down the road in making the micro-reactor a reality, with the technology bringing immense benefits for both space and Earth.

The technology will deliver the capability to support commercial and defence use cases alongside providing a solution to decarbonise industry and provide clean, safe and reliable energy," said Rolls-Royce director of future programmes Abi Clayton.