---
title: "Rolls-Royce Will Be Building a Nuclear Reactor for the Moon"
description: "The British luxury carmaker Rolls Royce has just gotten the go-ahead from the UK government to build a nuclear reactor for a future Moon base. "
date: "2023-03-18"
modified: "2023-03-18"
authors:
  - name: "Noor Al-Sibai"
    job_title: "Senior Staff Writer"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/rolls-royce-moon-reactor"
categories:
  - "Astronomy"
  - "Moon"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "moon base"
  - "nuclear reactors"
  - "the digest"
  - "uk space agency"
---

# Rolls-Royce Will Be Building a Nuclear Reactor for the Moon

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/rr.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Rolls Royce / Futurism\</em\>*

## Puttin' on the Ritz

British luxury carmaker Rolls-Royce just got the go-ahead from the UK government to build a nuclear reactor for a future Moon base.

In a [press release announcing the decision](<https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-space-agency-backs-rolls-royce-nuclear-power-for-moon-exploration>), the UK Space Agency (UKSA) officially affirmed that Rolls-Royce has been selected as its manufacturer of choice to build a prototypical nuclear reactor for a potential lunar base.

Rolls' scientists and engineers are developing a research program for what they're calling a "Micro-Reactor" — which is, just like it sounds, a miniature "plug-and-play" reactor, as [described by the US Department of Energy](<https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/what-nuclear-microreactor>) — that will ultimately provide power for a lunar base. Per the statement:

"The UK Space Agency has announced £2.9 million of new funding for the project" — the equivalent of roughly $3.5 million USD — "which will deliver an initial demonstration of a UK lunar modular nuclear reactor."

## Sporting Life

As with [other](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/new-canadian-space-agency-logo>) [non-American](<https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/08/chinese-view-of-nasas-moon-plans-trying-hard-to-relive-apollo-glories/>) [governments](<https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/12/nasa-is-negotiating-with-uae-to-provide-an-airlock-for-the-lunar-gateway/>), the British minister of state in the UK's Department of Science, Innovation and Technology came fairly close in the press release to admitting that this investment is in response to NASA's forthcoming [Artemis lunar missions](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-finalizing-artemis-astronauts>), the third of which "humans return to the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years."

Interestingly enough, this is the second time this week that Rolls was tapped by the British to build a nuclear reactor; the other came in the form of a trilateral agreement between the UK, the US and Australia.

As [*Naval News* reported](<https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2023/03/nuclear-reactors-from-rolls-royce-to-power-australian-submarines/>) earlier in the week, the British carmaker's submarine division that [apparently has supplied the country](<https://www.rolls-royce.com/products-and-services/defence/submarines.aspx>) with [many of its naval needs](<https://www.rolls-royce.com/products-and-services/defence/naval.aspx>) for more than half a century will be developing nuclear reactors for underwater vessels currently being developed by the international consortium.

All that said? It's pretty tony for the British to be using the makers of some of the world's classiest cars to potentially power a lunar base — because who said Moon living can't be done in style?

**More on future lunar colonies:** [*MIT Students Built a Terrifying Mix-and-Match Spider Robot to Build Lunar Colonies*](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/mit-spider-worm-robot>)

## Author
At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/noorfromfuturism.bsky.social>)