Latvian startup Deep Space Energy has closed a pre-seed funding round of approximately A$1.53 million (€930K) to advance development of a radioisotope-based power generator aimed at lunar missions and resilient satellite infrastructure.
The round includes around A$578,000 in private investment led by Outlast Fund and angel investor Linas Sargautis, a former co-founder of NanoAvionics. The company has also secured approximately A$957,000 in public contracts and grants from the European Space Agency (ESA), NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA), and the Latvian government.
Deep Space Energy is developing a compact radioisotopic generator that converts heat produced by the natural decay of nuclear waste-derived materials into electricity. According to the company, its system requires significantly less radioisotope fuel than traditional radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) currently used in space missions.
The company says the technology has been validated in laboratory conditions and is being developed as an auxiliary power source for high-value satellites operating in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), Geostationary Orbit (GEO) and Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO). These orbital regimes underpin communications, reconnaissance and early-warning systems.
Unlike solar arrays, radioisotope-based systems provide continuous power independent of sunlight. Deep Space Energy positions this as a resilience advantage, particularly for satellites supporting strategic or defence-related functions. The company states the technology is intended solely for power generation and not for weapons applications.
In the longer term, the company is targeting lunar surface missions. Lunar night cycles last roughly 14 Earth days, and temperatures can drop below minus 150 degrees Celsius, limiting the effectiveness of solar power. Radioisotope generators are considered a potential solution for sustaining rovers and surface systems during extended darkness and in permanently shadowed regions.
Deep Space Energy claims its system could generate approximately 50 watts of power using around two kilograms of Americium-241 fuel, compared with substantially higher material requirements in legacy RTG systems. If scalable, improved fuel efficiency could reduce launch mass and extend operational lifetimes for lunar missions, where transport costs can exceed A$1.6 million per kilogram of payload delivered to the lunar surface.
Americium-241 is derived from spent nuclear fuel, and projected increases in European production capacity over the coming decade may support broader deployment of radioisotope power systems.
The funding will support continued technical development and early commercialisation steps as Europe seeks greater autonomy in space infrastructure and dual-use technologies spanning civil and defence applications.
Deep Space Energy is positioning its technology within the growing intersection of lunar exploration, sovereign space capability and satellite resilience — areas where long-duration, sunlight-independent power remains a core engineering challenge.
