The company is developing a power system that uses radioisotopes derived from nuclear waste, which generate heat through natural decay. That heat is converted into electricity by a proprietary system that, according to founder and CEO Mihails Scepanskis, requires about five times less radioisotope fuel than legacy radioisotope thermo-electric generators currently used in space missions.
Deep Space Energy sees immediate applications in strengthening the resilience of high-value defence and security satellites. The generator is intended to act as an auxiliary energy source that can provide backup power independently of solar energy, adding redundancy to satellite power systems that support critical military reconnaissance assets.
The company stresses that its radioisotope generator is not designed for weapon applications. Instead, it will target dual-use satellites to improve their resilience and operational reliability, with a focus on spacecraft in Medium Earth Orbit, Geostationary Orbit and Highly Elliptical Orbit that underpin modern reconnaissance and early warning architectures.
These satellite systems support multiple defence roles, from synthetic aperture radar platforms that can detect troop movements through clouds and foliage, to signals intelligence payloads that intercept communications and radio transmissions, and missile launch detection sensors for anti-missile defence. The war in Ukraine has underscored how decisive continuous satellite-based reconnaissance can be in modern conflict.
In 2025, Ukraine lost its foothold in Russia's Kursk region during a period when the United States temporarily halted the sharing of satellite intelligence, highlighting the strategic value of such data. For Europe, the episode also exposed a vulnerability, since many of its defence space capabilities, particularly in the geostationary belt, depend heavily on US-operated assets.
Scepanskis argues that as Europe works to become more strategically autonomous, it must field its own satellites with advanced capabilities and more robust power systems. He says the new generator is designed to give spacecraft an auxiliary energy source that improves their ability to withstand non-kinetic attacks and internal failures.
Over the longer term, Deep Space Energy plans to target the emerging lunar economy. The company expects its radioisotope generator to help solve power challenges for upcoming lunar surface missions, including NASA and ESA initiatives such as Artemis and Argonaut, planned lunar rovers and infrastructure concepts grouped under the Moon Village framework.
The technology is being tailored to sustain operations through the harsh conditions of the lunar night and in permanently shadowed regions near the poles. These environments demand systems that can survive extremely low temperatures and long periods without sunlight while continuing to support scouting and resource prospecting missions.
On the Moon, nighttime temperatures can fall below minus 150 degrees Celsius and darkness can last for about 354 hours at a stretch, making sole reliance on solar energy unworkable for mobile platforms. Deep Space Energy says its generator can provide a steady 50 watts of power for a rover using roughly 2 kilograms of Americium-241 fuel, compared with around 10 kilograms of radioisotope material for a comparable legacy RTG.
If current projections that Americium-241 production will reach about 10 kilograms per year by the mid-2030s are realised, the higher fuel efficiency could enable lunar missions to launch more than five years earlier than otherwise possible and support up to five times as many missions on the same isotope supply. That, in turn, could bring forward the timetable for commercial activity and resource utilisation on the lunar surface.
Scepanskis adds that the technology could dramatically improve the economics of lunar rover missions by allowing vehicles to survive multiple day night cycles and operate for several years. With transport costs to the lunar surface reaching up to a million euros per kilogram of payload, extending rover lifetimes could translate into hundreds of millions of euros in savings across a programme.
Lead investor Outlast Fund says the company fits its strategy of backing enabling technologies for the next phase of space activity. Partner Egita Polanska notes that advances in materials, power management and commercial demand for lunar operations are converging, and describes Deep Space Energy as building the infrastructure to power the next wave of space exploration and industry.
Polanska says that as Europe increases its space ambitions, it needs domestic companies to lead in foundational technologies, and characterises the investment as a literal moonshot in the fund's portfolio. Co investor Linas Sargautis, who has joined the company as an adviser, argues that the deal further raises the profile of the Baltic region as an emerging hub for space innovation.
Sargautis says Deep Space Energy exemplifies how Baltic companies can contribute to future deep space and lunar missions while bolstering European defence capabilities. He plans to support the team by connecting it with leading space systems integrators and helping it build out the subsystem integration expertise required for future contracts.
Deep Space Energy was founded in 2022 and operates from Latvia with a branch in the United Kingdom. Its radioisotope power generator concept uses heat from the nuclear self decay of isotopes that can be extracted from commercial reactor waste, targeting deep space science missions, lunar surface operations and high value defence satellites.
The company is the first from Latvia to be selected for the NATO DIANA programme and has also received European Space Agency technology development contracts and support through the ESA Business Incubation Centre. Additional backing has come from Latvian government funding, venture capital from Outlast Fund and private investment from Sargautis.
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