OpenStar
| Industry | Energy |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2021 |
| Founder | Ratu Mataira |
| Headquarters | , New Zealand |
Number of employees | 55 (2025) |
| Website | openstar |
OpenStar Technologies[1] is a company based in Wellington, New Zealand, that is developing a nuclear fusion reactor. It aims to develop a reactor capable of supplying electricity to the grid by the 2030s. While research has been conducted on fusion power for decades, no company has ever made one capable of supplying electricity on a commercial scale.[2] Worldwide, there are about 45 companies developing nuclear fusion reactors.[3]
History
[edit]The founder and CEO of OpenStar is Ratu Mataira, who has completed a PhD at the Robinson Research Institute, of the Victoria University of Wellington. The institute focusses on superconductors. After Mataira first heard about the levitated dipole concept for fusion reactors in 2020,[3] which stopped being funded by the US government in 2011,[4] Mataira founded the company in 2021.[5] According to 1News, OpenStar is the first New Zealand company to make an attempt at building a nuclear fusion reactor.[3]
As of 2024, the company has raised NZ$20 million.[4] Mataira has said that the company would need between $500 million and $1 billion to successfully develop a fusion reactor.[5] Mataira has suggested that the pharmaceutical industry may be interested in OpenStar as the company could produce isotopes required by the pharmaceutical industry that are traditionally made using nuclear fission.[3]
In November 2024 the company achieved the creation of plasma,[4] which lasted for 20 seconds at 300,000 °C (540,000 °F). Temperatures in the hundreds of millions of degrees are required for fusion to occur.[5]
As of June 2025, OpenStar has 55 employees.[6]
Technology
[edit]OpenStar is developing a levitated dipole reactor,[3] which uses a levitating battery-powered superconducting magnet that is placed into a vacuum chamber with a width of 16 feet (5 m), named Junior.[4][5][1] In the typical fusion reactor concept, the tokamak, the magnets are outside the chamber.[5][1] According to Mataira, "The core engineering challenge is how do you make a magnet that's surrounded by plasma operate for long enough to be useful".[5]
The company is using the hydrogen isotopes deuterium, which has one neutron, and tritium, which has two neutrons.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "A nuclear fusion startup just reached a milestone in its bid to commercialize unlimited clean energy". CNN. 29 November 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
- ^ "Inside OpenStar's ambitious attempt to build a nuclear fusion reactor in New Zealand". Stuff. 1 April 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
- ^ a b c d e "Young Māori physicist seeking to harness power of the stars". 1News. 6 August 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
- ^ a b c d "Inside Wellington's nuclear fusion experiment". The New Zealand Herald. 15 November 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f "Nuclear fusion start-up claims milestone with unconventional reactor". Financial Times. 13 November 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
- ^ "He's 32, has 55 employees, and is building a nuclear fusion reactor in Wellington". Stuff. 5 June 2025. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
- ^ "Hopes to build world-first prototype fusion generator in NZ". Newsroom. 1 August 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2025.