UK engineering giant Rolls-Royce has secured funding from the UK Space Agency for the development of its space nuclear power technology with an initial flight demonstration is anticipated by the end of this decade.

The new £4.8m (€5.7m, $6.2m) award from the government-backed National Space Innovation Programme will help to significantly advance the development and demonstration of key technologies in the space nuclear microreactor.

The Rolls-Royce programme will have a total project cost of £9.1m and aims to progress the microreactor’s overall technology readiness level, which will bring the reactor closer to a full system space flight demonstration.