The Prepare for Space initiative has been created to help non-space entities enter the space sector and allow for the cross-fertilisation of ideas, innovations and technologies. While this opens up obvious connections between, for example, the aerospace and space sectors, there are many other less obvious connections between space and other industries. One such industry is nuclear, which can draw a number of parallels with the space sector.
Origins
The origins of both industries date back to the time of World War Two (WWII), the beginning of the Cold War, and the nuclear arms race. Both industries were accelerated by military spending and defence requirements following the dropping of the first atomic bomb (‘Little Boy’) on Hiroshima, Japan, at 8:15am on 6 August, 1945, by the USAAF B29 bomber, `Enola Gay.’
With the end of WWII, geopolitical tensions grew between power blocs in the East and West, leading to a nuclear arms race and, subsequently, an advancing of missile technology, which developed into the Space Race from 1955 and the launch of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, by the Soviet Union in 1957.
This Space Race between Cold War rivals, the Soviet Union and the United States, led to rapid advancements in space technology, having drawn from the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between the two nations following World War II.
As the space sector began to develop, nuclear research was also adding additional areas of focus alongside bomb technology to include naval propulsion and electricity generation.
From Military to Industry
Although both industry sectors had their origins in military / defence purposes, the following decades saw their remits grow to include civil and infrastructure purposes too.
For the space sector, this has seen the growth of communications, observation and navigational satellite technologies that have many terrestrial applications, including GPS systems used by vehicles and mobile devices.
From 1956, the main objective of the nuclear sector pivoted away from military applications and towards energy and the technological development of reliable nuclear power plants.
Despite the expanding of focus for both the nuclear and the space sectors, there remained competition between the East and West power blocs in both. This competition has increased further in recent years as other nations outside of the traditional competitors are developing their own space and nuclear industries.
Public Vs Private Sector?
The space and the nuclear sectors both tend to be supported by public sector investment, including in Britain with the UK Space Agency and the UK Atomic Energy Authority. This public sector oversight is also evident with the European Space Agency and national nuclear power initiatives across Europe.
However, there are many other nations, such as Japan, Peru, Saudi Arabia and Thailand, who are now investing in their own space programmes. Elsewhere, India’s Chandrayaan-3 lander and rover mission successfully landed on the Moon on 23 August 2023, making India the first nation to successfully land a spacecraft in the lunar South Pole region, and the fourth country to soft land on the Moon after the Soviet Union, the United States and China. The global public sector expansion of space is matched by a growth in the number of nations considering, planning, or implementing nuclear power programmes. Meanwhile, state-owned nuclear companies from Russia and China have been offering nuclear power plants to emerging nations.
Although the public sector remains integral to both space and nuclear programmes, both industries are also experiencing increased private sector interest. In space, this includes everything from high-profile businesses like SpaceX and Virgin Galactic to the 3,000 small businesses that deliver elements to the ESA space programme. Space collaboration has seen NASA working with industry and international partners on increasingly complex missions, while around 95% of commercial space programme growth is due to the launch of the Starlink satellite constellation, owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
This growth in private investment is also emerging in the nuclear and fusion sectors, with over 35 private companies having raised over $2.4 billion to explore fusion concepts. The private fusion industry has grown quickly with varying levels of technology, strategy, and funding, mirroring the growth of private entrepreneurialism in the space sector.
Technology Needs
Because the nuclear and the space sectors share a number of technology needs, any solutions have the potential to cross from one industry to the other. These shared technology needs include:
Technology Developments
The requirements of both sectors have led to a number of technology developments including advanced materials, technologies and automation, all of which have shown applications in both nuclear and space.
Industry Trends and Challenges
The technology advancements sought by both sectors are driven by industry tends and challenges, such as miniaturisation, Net Zero, managing waste and debris, and the challenges associated with working in an international, geopolitical environment.
Culture
Both sectors are driven by innovation tempered by safety. Space tends to look towards a collaborative learning environment among employees, without which many profound discoveries and scientific advances would not have been possible. The nuclear industry places emphasis on procedural safety and a rules-driven approach, which leaves less room for innovative risk-taking and experimentation than with the space sector.
For the nuclear industry, safety is a combination of preventing accidents and security, which prevents intentional acts to harm the facility or steal nuclear materials. For space, safety leans towards communicating issues, testing, and learning from mistakes and successes.
Direct Links
While we have discussed the cross-over between the space and nuclear sectors in terms of technologies, needs and challenges, there have also been instances of direct involvement between the two industries. This includes the similarities in terms of decommissioning needs and how space can learn from the nuclear industry and the potential to use nuclear microreactors to power space craft.
While there are differences between the two sectors, there are also a great many similarities that open up the potential for spin in and spin out between the space and nuclear industries.
Source: ESA