The UK Space Agency (UKSA) will finance a project Rolls-Royce to investigate how nuclear energy could be used to support a future lunar base for astronauts. The cost of the program Micro-Reactor It is worth 2.9 million pounds sterling, the equivalent of 3,390,862 euros.
As its name suggests, it will provide an initial demonstration of a modular nuclear reactor on the surface of the Moon. The initiative follows a study that the British agency itself funded in 2022 in exchange for 249,000 pounds sterling, just over 290,000 euros.
The Minister of State of the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, George Freemansaid that “space exploration is the ultimate laboratory for many of the transformative technologies we need on Earth: from materials to robotics, nutrition, clean technologies and much more. As we prepare to see humans return to the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years, we are supporting exciting research like this modular lunar reactor with Rolls-Royce to pioneer new energy sources for a lunar base.”
On the other hand, the director of Future Programs at Rolls-Royce, Abi Claytondirector of future programs, said that “this funding will help us make the microreactor a reality, and the technology will bring immense benefits to both space and Earth. The technology will provide the ability to support commercial and defense use cases, as well as to provide a solution to decarbonize the industry and provide clean, safe and reliable energy.
Firma: Rolls-Royce
Finally, the executive director of the UKSA, Paul Batecommented that “we support the technology and capabilities to support ambitious space exploration missions and drive growth of the sector across the UK. The development of space nuclear power offers a unique opportunity to support innovative technologies and grow our base of nuclear, scientific and space engineering skills.
Sector growth
This partnership comes after UKSA announced £51m funding for UK companies to develop communications and navigation services for missions to the Moon, as part of the programme. Moonlight from European Space Agency (ESA), whose objective is to launch a constellation of satellites into lunar orbit. This will allow future astronauts, rovers, scientific experiments and other equipment to communicate, share large amounts of data, including high-definition video, and safely navigate its surface.
At the market level, it is worth mentioning that the sector in the United Kingdom is valued at 16 billion pounds, the equivalent of 18,708,206,976 euros. On the other hand, according to data from Euroconsultits government spending in 2023 was 1,488 million euros, the third highest in Europe, behind France and Germany.
2024-04-12 04:32:19
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