Space power: Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator Shock Test Success

A cutting-edge ‘space battery’ has been subjected to extreme shock levels to test its resilience for the harsh environment of a launch or planetary surface landing – and passed with flying colours.

A team at the University of Leicester is leading the development of radioisotope power technologies in Europe and has now successfully tested its cutting-edge Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator in an extreme shock test campaign.

The Space Nuclear Power group at the University of Leicester has been developing radioisotope power systems for over a decade. These power systems use the heat generated from the decay of radioisotopes, and can be used to provide heat to spacecraft, or converted to electricity to power key subsystems. 

The group’s Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator or RTG (also sometimes referred to as a ‘space battery’) uses americium fuel, which can provide stable power outputs to spacecraft for many decades. RTGs that use americium perform better in cold environments which makes them suitable for missions targeting icy moons or shadowed regions of planetary surfaces.

The RTG that has been under the development leadership of the University of Leicester since 2010, as part of a European Space Agency development programme, has been transformed in its generation 5 design.

The shock test required impacting a large metal plate on which the RTG was mounted with a projectile to induce shock in the system. This was carried out nine times to ensure repeatability testing in all three axes. Tests levels exceeded a 5,000g peak which appears to be greater than what has been reported in the literature to date for such systems.

The technology development has been funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) European Devices Using Radioisotope Energy (ENDURE) program, which has been heavily supported by the UK Space Agency.

Tony Crawford, the Chief Mechanical Technician and AIV/AIT lead on the project said:  “The Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator yet again has exceeded all expectations and this was another critical milestone success. This reinforces the robustness in the design and further accelerates to a mission application.”

Dr Ramy Mesalam, the technical lead on the project said: “We are working at pace on this project to bring the technology to the community as rapidly as we can. The team is also supported by the great long-standing collaboration with the European Space Agency and UK Space Agency on the development of these systems.”