Novel Fission Power Source Investigation

The planned project would eliminate the enrichment costs, supply issues, and flight risk on launch of existing plutonium or uranium nuclear power sources by beginning development of a power system based on initiating fission from passing neutrons through safer and more common fertile materials. The resulting product could be inactive when launched, begin reactions on-demand, and maintain performance over long durations. There are no equivalent current efforts to this proposal. If successful, the plan is to propose the system to NASA mission planners at GSFC, MSFC, JPL, JSC, LaRC, and ARC, for possible inclusion of the technology into future planning.

In many mission cases, NASA would benefit greatly from a fission power source that eliminates the need for highly enriched uranium or plutonium. These are expensive, both in material preparation and safety related costs, and must be active at launch. This CIF will investigate the ability to trigger nuclear reactions using an electrochemical cell, creating a neutron source to trigger a fusion-fission high power density power system.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 2) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.