SpaceNukes receives DARPA award to ground test kilopower reactor

[Marlin]

SpaceNukes receives DARPA award to ground test kilopower reactor

https://www.ans.org/news/2026-10-26/article-8520/spacenukes-receives-darpa-award-to-ground-test-kilopower-reactor/

[Core Content]

SpaceNukes will partner with Los Alamos National Laboratory to develop an autonomous kilopower reactor under a new agreement with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The project advances technology from the 2018 KRUSTY prototype by incorporating active control rods and automated systems for remote operational environments.

The Space Nuclear Power Corporation (SpaceNukes) was awarded an other transaction agreement from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to design, build, and conduct a nuclear ground test of a kilopower reactor in collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory, the company announced.

The project was awarded under DARPA's Fast Capacitance (Fat Cat) program, which seeks to advance reactor operations, including reactors designed for propulsion systems, as a source of reliable power for systems in extreme, remote environments.

NASA staff assembling the KRUSTY reactor experiment at the NNSA critical experiments facility. (Photo: LANL)

Read the full article at ans.org:
https://www.ans.org/news/2026-10-26/article-8520/spacenukes-receives-darpa-award-to-ground-test-kilopower-reactor/