Latvian startup Deep Space Energy SIA announced Wednesday it has raised €930,000, about $1.1 million, in pre-seed funding to advance novel radioscopic generator technology for the European space and defense industry – then eventually power lunar surface exploration.
The company raised €350K led by Outlast Fund and Linas Sargautis, an angel investor and a former co-founder of Nano Avionics. The remaining €580K was raised in public contracts and grants by the European Space Agency, NATO DIANA and the Latvian government.
DSE is developing a dual-use energy technology that repurposes radioisotopes, materials derived from nuclear waste, which generate heat through natural decay. According to the company’s founder and Chief Executive, Mihails Ščepanskis, the solution converts that into heat and electric power, requiring five times less radioisotope fuel than thermoelectric generators currently used in space.
“Our technology, which has already been validated in the laboratory, has several applications across the defense and space sectors,” Ščepanskis said. “It provides the redundancy of satellite power systems by supplying backup power that does not depend on solar energy, making it crucial for high-value military reconnaissance assets.”
The company is targeting multiple satellite types not designed for weaponry, primarily dual-use orbital arrays. These satellites are at medium Earth orbit, geostationary orbit and highly elliptical orbit, which are critical to reconnaissance and early-warning systems.
Bringing electricity to the moon
In the long term, the company also wants to provide the capability for Europe to aim for the moon — literally.
Radioisotopes will allow researchers to address critical power challenges beyond Earth orbit, enabling lunar exploration in areas where energy generation is problematic. Because temperatures drop below minus 150 degrees Celsius and nights last roughly 354 hours, rovers cannot rely on solar power.
The company said it uses 2 kilograms of Americium-241 fuel to generate 50 watts of power for a lunar rover, compared with about 10 kilograms of radioisotope material needed by legacy systems. The production rate for Americium-241 is currently only a few kilograms a year, with projections reaching 10 kilograms per year by the mid-2030s.
According to Ščepanskis, the company’s technology could help significantly enhance the economics of lunar missions by enabling them to last multiple day-night cycles. This would help move up the timeline of lunar exploration by up to five years. According to DSE, the sole expenses of payloads taken to the Moon cost up to a million euros per kilogram. By enhancing the lifetime of rovers, the company could help save hundreds of millions.
“Space energy tech has been stuck with certain limitations for decades, but we’re finally seeing the pieces come together for a real breakthrough,” said Egita Poļanska, a partner at Outlast Fund. “Deep Space Energy is building the infrastructure that will literally power the next chapter of space exploration and industry.”
Image: Pixabay
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