Proactive Investors - Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC said it has secured funding from the UK Space Agency to look into how nuclear power may be used to support a future moon base.
The government agency will provide £2.9mln for the project, which will deliver an initial demonstration of a UK lunar modular nuclear reactor, according to a statement.
This builds on the £249,000 study funded by the UK Space Agency in 2022.
Scientists and engineers at Rolls-Royce are working on the 'micro-reactor' programme to develop the technology that could power humans to live and work on the moon.
Rolls-Royce said it plans to have the reactor, which is “small and lightweight” compared to other power systems such as the small modular reactors given support in the budget this week, ready to send to the moon by 2029.
The applications of the micro-reactor are “wide-ranging” and could support commercial and defence use cases to those in space, the FTSE 100 company said.
Rolls-Royce will be working alongside several collaborators, including the University of Oxford and the University of Brighton.
The funding, it said, means the company can “further strengthen its knowledge” of micro-reactors, with a focus on heat generation, heat transfer and converting heat into electricity.
“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,” said Abi Clayton, director of Rolls' Future Programmes section.