Exclusive: Project Omega and Charter team up on space power
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Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
Project Omega and Charter Space want to explore how radioactive isotopes can be used to keep expensive satellites in orbit longer and prevent them from being lost to the depths of space.
Why it matters: Satellites often rely on solar power, which can be unpredictable. Reliable power could increase the odds of spacecraft survival.
- NASA has previously observed that about 41% of small satellites fail or partially fail.
Catch up quick: Project Omega is already working with the Energy Department, and this summer announced a multimillion-dollar contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Zoom in: The firm wants to package its fuel source, strontium-90, into a 1-inch-by-1-inch battery box as a backup power source for spacecraft, reducing the risk of companies losing those space assets.
- Charter Space, an insurance provider, sees the research with Project Omega as a way to improve the likelihood of success and survivability of expensive spacecraft.
- The duo is researching technology like an aviation flight data recorder — or black box — that could be used to diagnose satellite mishaps and prevent future mission failures.
What they're saying: Project Omega CEO Staff Sheehan told Axios "now is really the time to bring radioisotope power sources to more commercial space," given the increase in providers.
- Charter Space CEO Yuk Chi Chan told Axios there's a "need to modernize the way that insurance is done in space, so that we can modernize the way that finance and capital can participate in space."
Go deeper: America's not ready for space war
