Latvian startup Deep Space Energy SIA announced Wednesday it raised €930,000, around $1.1 million, in pre-seed funding to advance novel radioscopic generator technology for the European space and defense indusattempt – then eventually power lunar surface exploration.
The company raised €350K led by Outlast Fund and Linas Sargautis, an angel investor and a former co-founder of Nano Avionics. The remaining €580K was raised in public contracts and grants by the European Space Agency, NATO DIANA and the Latvian government.
DSE is developing a dual-utilize energy technology that repurposes radioisotopes, materials derived from nuclear waste, which generate heat through natural decay. According to the company’s founder and Chief Executive, Mihails Ščepanskis, the solution converts that into heat and electric power, requiring five times less radioisotope fuel than thermoelectric generators currently utilized in space.
“Our technology, which has already been validated in the laboratory, has several applications across the defense and space sectors,” Ščepanskis stated. “It provides the redundancy of sainformite power systems by supplying backup power that does not depconclude on solar energy, building it crucial for high-value military reconnaissance assets.”
The company is tarreceiveing multiple sainformite types not designed for weaponry, primarily dual-utilize orbital arrays. These sainformites are at medium earth orbit, geostationary orbit and highly elliptical orbit, which are critical to reconnaissance and early-warning systems.
Bringing electricity to the moon
In the long term, the company also wants to provide the capability for Europe to aim for the moon. Literally.
Radioisotopes will allow researchers to address critical power challenges beyond Earth orbit, enabling lunar exploration in areas where energy generation is problematic. Becautilize temperatures drop below minus 150 degrees Celsius and nights last roughly 354 hours, rovers cannot rely on solar power.
The company stated it utilizes 2 kg of Americium-241 fuel to generate 50 watts of power for a lunar rover, compared with around 10 kg of radioisotope material necessaryed by legacy systems. The production rate for Americium-241 is currently only a few kilograms a year, with projections reaching 10 kg per year by the mid-2030s.
According to Ščepanskis, the company’s technology could assist significantly enhance the economics of lunar missions by enabling them to last multiple day-night cycles. This would assist shift up the timeline of lunar exploration by up to five years. According to DSE, the sole expenses of payloads taken to the Moon cost up to a million euros per kilogram; by enhancing the lifetime of rovers, the company could assist save hundreds of millions.
“Space energy tech has been stuck with certain limitations for decades, but we’re finally seeing the pieces come toreceiveher for a real breakthrough,” Egita Poļanska, partner at Outlast Fund, stated. “Deep Space Energy is building the infrastructure that will literally power the next chapter of space exploration and indusattempt.”
Image: Pixabay
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