A team of researchers from the UK’s University of Leicester has developed and tested small-scale nuclear power systems to provide electrical power for various space exploration missions.

The project is part of a European Space Agency funded programme.

As part of the research, prototypes of a 10W radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) and a 3W radioisotope heater unit (RHU) have been built.

The prototypes are designed to use waste heat from americium-241 as their fuels.

The newly built modular RTG can generate up to 50W of electrical power and is based on a smaller scale 4W lab-based RTG prototype.

The RTG prototype is capable of keeping spacecraft warm in challenging places.

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“In order to push forward the boundaries of space exploration, innovations in power generation, robotics, autonomous vehicles and advanced instrumentation are needed.”

Energy harvesting from RHUs using thermoelectric conversion could offer an attractive option for smaller missions where small amounts of electrical power combined with heat sources could open a range of space exploration scenarios.

University of Leicester Space Instrumentation and Space Nuclear Power Systems professor and project lead Richard Ambrosi said: “In order to push forward the boundaries of space exploration, innovations in power generation, robotics, autonomous vehicles and advanced instrumentation are needed.

“Radioisotope power sources are an important technology for future European space exploration missions as their use would result in more capable spacecraft, and probes that can access distant, cold, dark and inhospitable environments.

“Currently the focus is on two development projects aimed at scale-up of the laboratory systems to more flight-like experimental prototypes.

“In both cases, electrical heating is being used to enable development in the lab.”

Airbus Defence and Space, Queen Mary University of London, European Thermodynamics, Lockheed Martin UK and Fluid Gravity Engineering were also involved in the research.

For the project, the University of Leicester formed a partnership with Lockheed Martin UK, Johnson Matthey and the National Nuclear Laboratory.