Demonstrator Payload Render
Adelaide-based nuclear engineering and technology developer entX has been awarded a $1 million grant to help fund a pivotal trial of its world-leading Radioisotope Heating Unit (RHU) in space.
The grant comes from the Department of Industry, Science and Resources’ Moon to Mars Initiative: Supply Chain Capability Improvement Grant program and is administered by the Australian Space Agency (ASA).
EntX will now take part in a trial aimed at enabling the RHU to gain “flight heritage”. A successful trial will put entX on the path to commercial production of the RHU.
EntX has designed and developed an RHU platform for lunar night survival by collaborating with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) to produce customised, safer radioisotope fuel pellets.
Unlike traditional plutonium-based RHUs, this solution enables the commercial space sector to heat critical electronics in payloads, or cargoes, operating through multiple lunar nights (each lunar night last ~14 days).
NASA’s recent Civil Space Capability Shortfall survey identified “heat to survive the lunar night” as the highest-priority shortfall that could impede future space and lunar exploration.
Working with the iLAuNCH Trailblazer program and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), entX has developed a commercially viable RHU to fill this need. The energy sources used in the entX RHU fall into regulatory categories that present a reduced set of requirements as compared to historical RHU launches, translating into significant opportunities for the commercial space sector.
entX will leverage its existing strong relationship with ANSTO to establish a sustainable, commercial source of supply for radioisotopes, irradiated in ANSTO’s Open-pool Australian light water (OPAL) reactor, with approval to export the activated fuel pellet to the United States. entX will concurrently undertake concept feasibility studies for potential RHU integration into Fleet Space’s lunar exploration technology, SPIDER, which will be initially deployed as a single unit on the Moon in 2026 to search for water ice deposits and unlock structural insights about the lunar regolith.
entX’s relationship with Fleet Space was initiated in 2021 with the subsequent signing of an MOU in 2022 to jointly explore opportunities to deploy seismic technology into space that is heated by an entX RHU. An LOI was signed this year focused on successfully developed RHU prototypes being incorporated into Fleet’s SPIDER technology for deployment to the lunar surface from 2027.
The opportunity for an Australian RHU to extend the lunar lifetime of Fleet Space’s SPIDER, combined with US-based radioactive payload launch approval and flight heritage, will establish entX as a credible national and international supply chain solution for lunar night survival. This will not only position the technology for future lunar missions and commercialization but also create unique Australian capability and capacity to support NASA’s Moon to Mars endeavours.
EntX Managing Director Bryn Jones said: “This is the culmination of three years of collaboration between entX, the Australian Space Agency, iLAuNCH, ANSTO and great industry partners to make an RHU that is accessible to the civil space industry, rather than being just the domain of government. With the huge ramp up in lunar exploration, the timing of this is perfect as demand for this type of solution has never been higher”.
For more information, contact Dr Scott Edwards, General Manager Space and Defence scott@entx.com.au
