"Rolls-Royce scientists and engineers are working on the micro-jet program to develop technology that will provide the energy humans need to live and work on the moon," the company said in a statement.
The group predicts that a first reactor, which will be about the size of a car, will be ready to be sent to the moon by 2029.
About 50 years after the last Apollo mission, the return of humans to the Moon is coming to fruition: NASA announced in early March that the Artemis 2 space mission would take astronauts around the satellite in November 2024.
The Artemis 3 mission, which is to land astronauts on the lunar surface, is officially scheduled for 2025. NASA and Axiom Space presented Wednesday in Houston, Texas, a prototype of the new spacesuit they will wear.
"Nuclear power has the potential to significantly increase the duration of future lunar missions and their scientific value," said Rolls-Royce, which will work with several British universities, including Oxford.
The funding announced Friday is in addition to 249,000 pounds provided by the British Space Agency in 2022. This new unit will allow the company to carry out a first demonstration of a modular lunar nuclear reactor.
Rolls-Royce is also developing small modular reactors for onshore power generation, including as part of the UK's plans to speed up the construction of new nuclear power plants on its territory.
Britain's government-run space agency recently failed in an attempt to launch the first rocket into space from UK soil, attached to a Virgin Orbit Boeing 747.
The launch, affected by an "anomaly" that prevented the launch of the rocket, was carried out as part of a consortium bringing together the British Space Agency, the Spaceport of Cornwall and Virgin Orbit - company that announced Thursday to suspend its operations.
NASA also announced in January a partnership with the Pentagon to develop a rocket powered by nuclear energy and intended to send humans to Mars.
© 2023 AFP