Military to Mars: US nuclear battery firm gets funds to power space, defense missions
Venture-backed startup Zeno Power announced it has raised $50 million in Series B funding.
The company, a developer of nuclear batteries for extreme environments, says the capital will help it accelerate the development of its resilient batteries.
Traditionally used for deep space missions, Zeno Power believes it can make nuclear batteries more accessible. It aims to serve a host of private sector and government applications. The firm aims to deliver its first commercial nuclear battery by 2027.
New nuclear battery use cases
Zeno Power’s nuclear battery, or radioisotope power system (RPS), converts heat from radioactive decay into usable electricity via thermoelectric generators. These systems typically utilize Strontium-90 or Plutonium-238.
The technology has been a mainstay of NASA deep space missions since the 1960s. RPS, for example, powers the two Voyager spacecraft, which have traveled farther than any other human-made machine. RPS are incredibly reliable because they produce no chain reaction and have no moving parts.
Zeno Power claims its newly acquired funds will go toward expanding its workforce and manufacturing footprint.
Hanaco Ventures led the funding round. Beyond Earth Ventures, Balerion Space Ventures, and several other space and defense-focused investors joined it.
Zeno Power is one of a handful of companies aiming to commercialize RPS. The startup believes its nuclear battery could serve military as well as private use cases.
Powering ‘energy deserts’
Zeno Power’s RPS devices could power autonomous systems to explore uncharted deep-sea regions. The company’s technology could also power systems throughout the Arctic winter, as well as private-built applications on the Moon.
The company has secured more than $60 million in government contracts from the Department of Defense and NASA. It is also collaborating with the lunar robotics company iSpace-US. A technology demonstration is currently scheduled for 2027.
In an interview with Axios, Zeno Power co-founder and CEO Tyler Bernstein said, “With great power competition rising, the ocean floor, Arctic, and lunar surface are becoming the front lines of global security and economic progress — but they remain energy deserts.”
“With this round of funding, we’re on track to demonstrate full-scale systems in 2026 and deliver the first commercially built nuclear batteries to power frontier environments by 2027,” he continued.
Since it was founded in 2018, Zeno Power has unveiled its first nuclear battery prototype at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. It also collaborates with the US Department of Energy for its Strontium-90 fuel supply.