Enigmatic Chinese space nuclear reactor has enough energy for 10 ISS

In November 2021, the South China Morning Post reported that China had developed a prototype of a powerful nuclear reactor for its

space missions to Mars and the Moon.At the end of August 2022, a number of Chinese media reported that the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology had confirmed the effectiveness of the developed installation. All messages were later deleted, but archived versions of the Internet pages remained.

Chinese authorities are not very willing to share detailstheir planned space programs. For example, Hi-Tech previously reported that China sent a mysterious "reusable test ship" into space. Very little was known about this launch either, and mostly due to sightings uncovered by other media.

Now, apparently, China is onthe final stage of creating a powerful reactor for space research. A surviving report shows that the state agency has confirmed the results of the project and the creation of power sources for lithium-cooled megawatt-class space nuclear reactors, as well as a prototype of such a reactor. Additional technical details are still not disclosed.

Robotic missions to outer planetsreceive extremely little energy from the sun, which makes the use of solar panels inefficient. The optimal solution for such missions are nuclear reactors. This development is not the first time such a fuel has been used in Chinese space missions. For example, the Chang'e-3 lunar lander, which landed on the moon in 2013, used a plutonium-powered nuclear generator to survive a cold two-week night on the satellite.

Surprising in the new project is the declaredpower. For example, to power the ISS, according to NASA, there are enough solar panels that produce up to 120 kW of electricity. This means that the new reactor will be enough for about 10 such stations.

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