Moon power (3/21/23)

Good morning, and a word from Payload’s senior policy reporter:

I’m back! It’s Jacqueline, saying hello to the Payload family after four months of maternity leave. I’m so grateful to have been off with my little dude, but it’s time to trade rattles for rockets. If you have space scoops (or tips on how to be a working mom!), drop me a note.

In today's edition...⚛️ UKSA x Rolls-Royce🚀 Innospace launch🔁 People on the move

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UKSA Funds Rolls-Royce’s Lunar Nuclear Reactor

Image: Rolls Royce

The UK Space Agency has awarded Rolls-Royce £2.9M ($3.5M) to continue the development of a lunar nuclear reactor. Under the contract, UKSA and Rolls-Royce are aiming to get a demo model on the Moon’s surface by 2029. The agency previously funded a £249,000 (~$305,000) study last year.

The micro-reactor program

A bet on nuclear energy is seen as a way to wean future crews and robotic systems off of solar energy.

  • Rolls-Royce’s micro-reactor program is investigating how nuclear power could one day serve as a long-term energy source for a permanent moon base.

  • The engine manufacturer is working with Oxford, Bangor, Sheffield, and Brighton universities to help field a demonstration model by 2029.

The research zeroes in on three key areas:

  1. Generating heat/the fuel used to generate heat

  2. The method transferring that heat

  3. Technology that can convert the heat into usable energy (AKA electricity)

Ensuring the micro-reactor will be ready to operate in an unforgiving lunar environment is also a focus area.

What are micro-reactors? Modular micro-reactors are 100-1,000x smaller than conventional reactors. The relatively small and lightweight systems can likely generate enough energy to power communications, life support, and experiments on the lunar surface despite location, available sunlight, and other environmental factors.

Rolls-Royce’s nuclear efforts

The world's second largest aircraft engine manufacturer is no stranger to nuclear energy.

  • Apart from space-focused nuclear research, Rolls-Royce is also building up to 16 small modular reactors (SMRs) to provide low-cost clean energy in the UK.

  • It previously sold two of its nuclear businesses in 2019 and 2021, and has provided nuclear submarines for the UK Ministry of Defence through a subsidiary.

Other nuclear moon projects

Last summer, NASA and the DOE funded three projects to develop a fission surface power system by 2030 with the ultimate goal of supporting the Artemis program. In addition, NASA and DARPA will spend hundreds of millions to test a nuclear fission-powered thermal propulsion system on a spacecraft before the decade is out.

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Innoflight Lifts Off from Brazil

South Korea is angling to join the elite club of major spacefaring nations. Now, the second rocket developed domestically in the country has achieved liftoff.

Innospace, a Korean launch startup developing a suite of small-lift rockets, successfully got its Hanbit-TLV suborbital test rocket off the ground on Sunday. The flight lifted off from the Alcântara spaceport in Brazil at 1:52pm ET.

Innospace’s strategy: Innospace CEO Kim Soo-jong founded the company in 2017 and has since raised 55.2B won ($42M) in funding to develop the company’s small-lift rocket technology domestically in South Korea.

The Hanbit-TLV rocket, standing at 16.3 m tall, is a suborbital test rocket and precursor to the Hanbit-Nano, which is designed to carry payloads up to 50 kg to orbit. It comes equipped with a 15-ton hybrid engine that uses liquid oxygen and paraffin-based propellants. On this mission, Hanbit-TLV carried a 20 kg inertial navigation system called SISNAV for the Brazilian Air Force.

Launching from Brazil: The Brazilian space agency has issued a call to foreign nations that the Alcântara spaceport, operated by the Brazilian Air Force, is open for business. Innospace is the first foreign commercial company to take it up on its offer.

Test results…The Hanbit-TLV rocket successfully made it off the ground and is en route to its suborbital trajectory. The hybrid engine maintained a steady thrust for 106 seconds—12 less than the company’s target of 118—and flew for four minutes and 33 seconds before falling into the sea off the coast of Brazil.

“The success of HANBIT-TLV shows Innospace is capable of launching a space rocket and paves the way for us to tap into the global launch service market," Kim Soo-jong said in a statement.

+ Want more? Check out our Q+A with Carlos Moura, president of Brazil’s space agency, for more about the country’s initiative to invite more foreign launchers to Alcântara.

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In Other News

  • NASA retired its AIM probe, which studied Earth’s mesosphere for the past 15 years, due to ongoing battery issues.

  • China has nearly finished building its new astronomical satellite, Einstein Probe, and plans to launch the 1,400-kg bird by the end of the year.

  • Boeing delivered the first of three ultra-high capacity Ka-band ViaSat-3 satellites.

  • E-Space secured landing rights to provide future comms services and IoT connectivity in Nigeria.

  • The White House released its updated priorities for national aeronautics.

On the Move

  • Florida Today promoted Emre Kelly, a veteran space reporter, to space editor.

  • Sidus ($SIDU) tapped Richard Kube as its new chief production officer. Kube has 40+ years of industry experience, including posts at Cape Design Engineering, Craig Technologies, and United Space Alliance.

  • Sierra named Tim Keating as its new chief strategy officer and VP of global government operations. Keating previously served as Boeing’s longtime chief lobbyist.

  • Space Florida CEO Frank DiBello will retire in June. The aerospace development agency will kick off a national search for a new chief executive in the coming months.

  • Overair, an eVTOL developer, hired Tom Whayne as its CFO. Whayne formerly served in the same post at OneWeb.

  • Hadrian welcomed former Flexport exec Ben Braverman as its new chief business officer.

  • Warpspace promoted Hiromitsu Azuma from COO to CEO.

The View from Down Under

Australian officials gave NASA Admin Bill Nelson a stuffed astronaut kangaroo during his trip Down Undah.

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