It will understandably be a while before Rolls-Royce and the UK Space Agency can set up shop in space. That is in no small part because humans have yet to make a long-term surface dwelling on the moon. Given that Rolls-Royce likely won’t have a working prototype for the small nuclear reactor ready to roll until 2029, humanity still has a few years to catch up. The Micro-Reactor could play as significant a role in propelling residents to the moon as it could providing clean heat and power to a lunar colony.
Rolls-Royce does have a few more practical uses for the Micro-Reactor here on Earth before it can take us to the moon. First and foremost, the company believes the device could be pivotal in the defense plans of the United Kingdom, providing power to central and mobile bases of operation, while helping the Defense program approach a net zero energy agenda. On top of that, Rolls-Royce believes the Micro-Reactor could be a legitimate game-changer in providing clean, renewable power to more isolated civic communities.
Rolls-Royce also claims the Micro-Reactor could power an entire Earth-bound industrial complex without putting strain on existing infrastructure. Frankly, if Rolls-Royce delivers on the promise of its micro-sized nuclear reactor, it could be a world-changing sort of innovation. If the Micro-Reactor makes life on the moon possible, the question becomes how much farther into the cosmos the technology could take us.
