The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) announced on Tuesday that three proposed design concepts for nuclear fission power on the surface of the Moon had been selected for further development. Nasa was working jointly with the US Department of Energy (DOE) to develop nuclear technologies for use in space, and the three contracts, each worth some $5-million, would be awarded through the DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory. The aim was to develop initial design concepts for 40-kW class nuclear fission power plants, that would have an operational life of at least ten years. The 12-month contracts were being awarded to three consortia. They were – Lockheed Martin (consortium leader), BWXT and Creare; Westinghouse (leader) and Aerojet Rocketdyne; and IX (a joint venture of Intuitive Machines and X-Energy, and consortium leader), Maxar and Boeing.
