World's First Commercial Nuclear-Powered Payload Now in Orbit
The payload is designed to test whether a privately built tritium power source can survive launch and operate safely in orbit.
- On Tuesday, SpaceX launched the Betavoltaic Orbital High-Reliability CubeSat aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, marking the first commercial nuclear-powered payload to reach orbit.
- Developed by Miami-based City Labs, the satellite tests proprietary "NanoTritium" betavoltaic technology that generates electricity directly from tritium decay without heat-based conversion, unlike conventional power systems.
- BOHR received Federal Aviation Administration authorization under the framework established by National Security Presidential Memorandum-20 in 2019, clearing a regulatory path for future commercial nuclear spacecraft.
- City Labs CEO Peter Cabauy stated the technology could eventually power sensors and heaters in extreme environments like the Moon's permanently shadowed craters where solar power is insufficient.
- Unlike NASA's plutonium-based radioisotope thermoelectric generators or Soviet-era fission reactors, BOHR is small and uses non-penetrating beta particles, eliminating risks associated with legacy nuclear systems.
17 Articles
17 Articles
A new satellite wants to prove nuclear power can work in space without solar panels
BOHR's primary mission is to test a different kind of power source in orbit. The CubeSat is carrying City Labs' "NanoTritium" system, a betavoltaic power source that converts beta particles from tritium decay directly into electricity using a semiconductor. Unlike traditional nuclear power systems, which first convert radioactive heat into...Read Entire Article
The world's first commercial nuclear satellite was launched into Earth orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.
World's first commercial nuclear-powered payload now in orbit
City Labs has launched the world's first commercial satellite carrying a nuclear-powered payload into orbit. Lofted atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the Betavoltaic Orbital High-Reliability (BOHR) CubeSat is designed to demonstrate using tritium as an energy source.Continue ReadingCategory: Space Systems, EngineeringTags: Nuclear, Satellite
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