List of nuclear power systems in space

Last updated: 2025-07-26 12:25:16

This list of nuclear power systems in space includes 83 nuclear power systems that were flown to space, or at least launched in an attempt to reach space. Such used nuclear power systems include:

radioisotope heater units (RHU) (usually produce heat by spontaneous decay of ²³⁸
Pu)
radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG) (usually produce heat by spontaneous decay of ²³⁸
Pu and convert it to electricity using a thermoelectric generator)
miniaturized fission reactors (usually produce heat by controlled fission of highly enriched ²³⁵
U and convert it to electricity using a thermionic converter)

Systems never launched are not included here, see Nuclear power in space.

Initial total power is provided as either electrical power (We) or thermal power (Wt), depending on the intended application.

Nation	Mission	Launched	Status	Location	Notes	Type	System name	Nuclear fuel	Power (nominal)	Ref
USA	Transit-4A	1961	Intact	Earth orbit		RTG	SNAP-3B	²³⁸ Pu	2.7 We	^[1]
USA	Transit-4B	1961	Intact	Earth orbit		RTG	SNAP-3B	²³⁸ Pu	2.7 We	^[1]
USA	Transit 5BN-1	1963	Intact	Earth orbit		RTG	SNAP-9A	²³⁸ Pu	25.2 We	^[1]
USA	Transit 5BN-2	1963	Intact	Earth orbit		RTG	SNAP-9A	²³⁸ Pu	26.8 We	^[1]
USA	Transit 5BN-3	1964	Destroyed	-	Failed to reach orbit, burned up in atmosphere.	RTG	SNAP-9A	²³⁸ Pu	25 We	^[2]
USA	SNAPSHOT	1965	Intact	Earth orbit	Low graveyard orbit in 1300 km height	Fission reactor	SNAP-10A	²³⁵ U (uranium-zirconium hydride)	500 We	^[1]
USA	Nimbus B (Nimbus-B1)	1968-05-18	Destroyed	-	Crashed at launch, radioactive material from RTG recovered from ocean and reused	RTG	SNAP-19B (2)	²³⁸ Pu	56 We	^[1]^[3]
USA	Nimbus 3 (Nimbus-B2)	1969-04-14	Destroyed	-	Earth re-entry 1972	RTG	SNAP-19B (2)	²³⁸ Pu	56 We	^[1]
USA	Nimbus IV	1970	Intact	Earth orbit		RTG	SNAP-19			^[4]
USA	Nimbus V	1972	Intact	Earth orbit		RTG	SNAP-19			^[4]
USA	Nimbus VI	1975	Damaged	Earth orbit		RTG	SNAP-19			^[4]
USA	Nimbus VII	1978	Damaged	Earth orbit		RTG	SNAP-19			^[4]
USA	Apollo 11	1969	Intact	Lunar surface	Sea of Tranquility	RHU	RHU (2)		30 Wt	^[1]
USA	Apollo 12 ALSEP	1969	Intact	Lunar surface	Ocean of Storms^[5]	RTG	SNAP-27	²³⁸ Pu	73.6 We	^[1]
USA	Apollo 13 ALSEP	1970	Intact	Earth ocean	Survived reentry, remains at 7000+ ft depth, Tonga Trench, Pacific Ocean	RTG	SNAP-27	²³⁸ Pu	73 We	^[1]
USA	Apollo 14 ALSEP	1971	Intact	Lunar surface	Fra Mauro	RTG	SNAP-27	²³⁸ Pu	72.5 We	^[1]
USA	Apollo 15 ALSEP	1971	Intact	Lunar surface	Hadley–Apennine	RTG	SNAP-27	²³⁸ Pu	74.7 We	^[1]
USA	Pioneer 10	1972	Intact	Solar escape trajectory		RTG	SNAP-19 (4) + RHU (12)	²³⁸ Pu	162.8 We + 12 Wt	^[1]
USA	Apollo 16 ALSEP	1972	Intact	Lunar surface	Descartes Highlands	RTG	SNAP-27	²³⁸ Pu	70.9 We	^[1]
USA	TRAID-01-1X	1972	Intact	Earth orbit		RTG	SNAP-19	²³⁸ Pu	35.6 We	^[1]
USA	Apollo 17 ALSEP	1972	Intact	Lunar surface	Taurus–Littrow	RTG	SNAP-27	²³⁸ Pu	75.4 We	^[1]
USA	Pioneer 11	1973	Intact	Solar escape trajectory		RTG	RTG SNAP-19 (4) + RHU (12)	²³⁸ Pu	159.6 We + 12 Wt	^[1]
USA	Viking 1	1976	Intact	Mars surface	Chryse Planitia	RTG	lander modified SNAP-19 (2)	²³⁸ Pu	84.6 We	^[1]
USA	Viking 2	1976	Intact	Mars surface	Utopia Planitia	RTG	lander modified SNAP-19 (2)	²³⁸ Pu	86.2 We	^[1]
USA	LES-8	1976	Intact	Earth orbit	Near geostationary orbit	RTG	MHW-RTG (2)	²³⁸ Pu	307.4 We	^[1]
USA	LES-9	1976	Intact	Earth orbit	Near geostationary orbit	RTG	MHW-RTG (2)	²³⁸ Pu	308.4 We	^[1]
USA	Voyager 1	1977	In use	Solar escape trajectory		RTG	MHW-RTG (3) + RHU(9)	²³⁸ Pu	477.6 We + 9 Wt	^[1]
USA	Voyager 2	1977	In use	Solar escape trajectory		RTG	MHW-RTG (3) + RHU(9)	²³⁸ Pu	470.1 We + 9 Wt	^[1]
USA	Mars 2020/Perseverance	2020	In use	Mars surface		RTG	MMRTG	²³⁸ Pu	110 We	^[6]
USA	Galileo	1989	Destroyed	-	Jupiter atmospheric entry	RTG	GPHS-RTG (2)		576.8 We	^[1]
USA	Ulysses	1990	Intact	Heliocentric orbit		RTG	GPHS-RTG		283 We	^[1]
USA	Cassini	1997	Destroyed	-	Burned-up in Saturn's atmosphere	RTG	GPHS-RTG (3)	²³⁸ Pu	887 We
USA	New Horizons	2006	In use	Solar escape trajectory		RTG	GPHS-RTG (1)	²³⁸ Pu	249.6 We
USA	MSL/Curiosity rover	2011	In use	Mars surface		RTG	MMRTG	²³⁸ Pu	113 We
Soviet Union	Kosmos 84	1965	Intact	Earth orbit		RTG	Orion-1 RTG	²¹⁰ Po		^[4]^[7]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 90	1965	Intact	Earth orbit		RTG	Orion-1 RTG	²¹⁰ Po		^[4]^[7]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 198 (RORSAT)	1967-12-27	Intact	Earth orbit		Fission reactor	BES-5 ??	²³⁵ U		^[4]^[8]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 209 (RORSAT)	1968-03-22	Intact	Earth orbit		Fission reactor	BES-5 ??	²³⁵ U		^[4]^[8]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 300 (Moon)	1969-09-23	Destroyed	-	Failed to achieve escape trajectory, burned up 4 days after launch	RTG		²¹⁰ Po		^[9]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 305 (Moon)	1969-10-22	Destroyed	-	Failed to achieve escape trajectory, burned up 2 days after launch	RTG		²¹⁰ Po		^[4]^[10]^[11]^[12]^[9]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 367 (RORSAT)	1970-10-03	Intact	Earth orbit, 579 mile altitude		Fission reactor	BES-5 ??	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[4]^[8]^[13]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 402 (RORSAT)	1971	Intact	Earth orbit		Fission reactor	BES-5 ??	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[4]^[8]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 469 (RORSAT)	1971	Intact	High orbit		Fission reactor	BES-5 (officially confirmed)	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 516	1972	Intact	High orbited 1972		Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	RORSAT	1973	Destroyed	-	Launch failure over Pacific Ocean, near Japan	Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 626	1973	Intact	Earth orbit		Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 651	1974				Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 654	1974				Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 723	1975				Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 724	1975				Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 785	1975	Destroyed	-	Failed after reaching orbit	Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 860	1976				Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 861	1976				Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 952	1977				Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 954	1977	Destroyed	-	Exploded on re-entry 1978 (over Canada)	Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 1176	1980	Intact	Earth orbit	11788/11971 Earth orbit 870–970 km	Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 1249	1981				Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 1266	1981				Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 1299	1981				Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 1402	1982	Destroyed	-	Earth re-entry 1983 (South Atlantic)	Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 1372	1982				Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 1365	1982				Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 1412	1982				Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 1461	1983	Destroyed	-	Earth orbit, exploded	Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[4]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 1597	1984				Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 1607	1984	Intact	Earth orbit	High orbited 1985	Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 1670	1985	Intact	Earth orbit	High orbited 1985	Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 1677	1985	Intact	Earth orbit	High orbited 1985	Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 1736	1986	Intact	Earth orbit	High orbited 1986	Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 1771	1986	Intact	Earth orbit	High orbited 1986	Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 1900	1987	Intact	Earth orbit	Earth orbit, 454 mile altitude	Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]^[13]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 1860	1987				Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 1932	1988	Intact	Earth orbit	800–900 km	Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 1682	1985	Intact	Earth orbit	High orbited 1986	Fission reactor	BES-5	²³⁵ U	2 kWe	^[14]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 1818 (RORSAT)	1987	Destroyed	-	Destroyed in high Earth orbit	Fission reactor	Topaz-I	²³⁵ U	5 kWe	^[15]
Soviet Union	Kosmos 1867 (RORSAT)	1987	Intact	Earth	Parked in high Earth orbit	Fission reactor	Topaz-I	²³⁵ U	5 kWe	^[16]
Soviet Union	Lunokhod 201	1969-02-19	Destroyed	-	Rocket exploded at launch, radioactive material from RHU spread over Russia	RHU		²¹⁰ Po		^[17]
Soviet Union	Lunokhod 1	1970	Intact	Lunar surface		RHU		²¹⁰ Po		^[17]
Soviet Union	Lunokhod 2	1973	Intact	Lunar surface		RHU		²¹⁰ Po		^[17]
Russia	Mars 96	1996	Destroyed	-	Launch failure, entered Pacific Ocean	RHU	RHU (4)	²³⁸ Pu		^[17]
China	Chang'e 3 lander	2013	In use	Lunar surface		RHU	In combination with solar panels allows continued use of the Lunar-based ultraviolet telescope	²³⁸ Pu		^[18] ^[19]
China	Yutu rover	2013	Intact	Lunar surface		RHU	Communication lost in 2015
India	Chandrayaan-3 propulsion module	2023	In use	Earth orbit		RHU	BARC RHU, transferred back from lunar orbit after lander mission completion	²⁴¹Am	2 Wt	^[20]

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 "Atomic Power in Space II: A History 2015" (PDF). inl.gov. Idaho National Laboratory. September 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
↑ "Transit". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
↑ A. Angelo Jr. and D. Buden (1985). Space Nuclear Power. Krieger Publishing Company. ISBN 0-89464-000-3.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Hagen, Regina (November 8, 1998). "Nuclear Powered Space Missions - Past and Future". space4peace.org. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
↑ David M. Harland (2011). Apollo 12 - On the Ocean of Storms. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 269. ISBN 978-1-4419-7607-9.
↑ mars.nasa.gov. "Electrical Power". mars.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2021-02-25.
1 2 Bennett, Gary L. (August 6, 1989). "A LOOK AT THE SOVIET SPACE NUCLEAR POWER PROGRAM" (PDF). International Forum on Energy Engineering. IECEC-89. NASA Propulsion, Power and Energy Division. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
1 2 3 4 Sven Grahn. "The US-A program (Radar Ocean Reconnaissance Satellites)". svengrahn.pp.se. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
1 2 "The 2014 NASA Nuclear Power Assessment Study (NPAS): Safety, Environmental Impact, and Launch Approval Considerations and Findings" (PDF). Retrieved 2024-06-15.
↑ Encyclopedia Astronautica article on the US-A RORSAT programme.
↑ "USSR - Luna Programme".
↑ "NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details".
1 2 "Top 10 Space Age Radiation Incidents". 20 January 2012.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 "US-A". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Mark Wade. 14 September 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-09-14. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
↑ "Old Russian Nuclear Satellite Returns". Spacedaily.com. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
↑ Lardier, Christian; Barensky, Stefan (March 27, 2018). The Proton Launcher: History and Developments. Wiley-ISTE. ISBN 978-1786301765.
1 2 3 4 Karacalıoğlu, Göktuğ (January 6, 2014). "Energy Resources for Space Missions". Space Safety Magazine. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
↑ SUN, ZeZhou; JIA, Yang; ZHANG, He (November 2013). "Technological advancements and promotion roles of Chang'e-3 lunar probe mission". Science China. 56 (11): 2702–2708. Bibcode:2013ScChE..56.2702S. doi:10.1007/s11431-013-5377-0. S2CID 111801601. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 March 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
↑ "Chang'e-3 - Satellite Missions". earth.esa.int. ESA. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
↑ "Nuclear energy keeps Chandrayaan-3 propulsion module going". The Times of India. 2023-10-31. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2023-10-31.

View original on Wikipedia

[Atomic-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 "Atomic Power in Space II: A History 2015" (PDF). inl.gov. Idaho National Laboratory. September 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2018.

[Astronautica-2] "Transit". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2013.

[3] A. Angelo Jr. and D. Buden (1985). Space Nuclear Power. Krieger Publishing Company. ISBN 0-89464-000-3.

[space4peace-4] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Hagen, Regina (November 8, 1998). "Nuclear Powered Space Missions - Past and Future". space4peace.org. Retrieved 13 June 2018.

[storms-5] David M. Harland (2011). Apollo 12 - On the Ocean of Storms. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 269. ISBN 978-1-4419-7607-9.

[6] rs.nasa.gov. "Electrical Power". mars.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2021-02-25.

[IECEC-89-7] 1 2 Bennett, Gary L. (August 6, 1989). "A LOOK AT THE SOVIET SPACE NUCLEAR POWER PROGRAM" (PDF). International Forum on Energy Engineering. IECEC-89. NASA Propulsion, Power and Energy Division. Retrieved 25 June 2018.

[svengrahn-8] 1 2 3 4 Sven Grahn. "The US-A program (Radar Ocean Reconnaissance Satellites)". svengrahn.pp.se. Retrieved 2020-05-12.

[x215-9] 1 2 "The 2014 NASA Nuclear Power Assessment Study (NPAS): Safety, Environmental Impact, and Launch Approval Considerations and Findings" (PDF). Retrieved 2024-06-15.

[10] Encyclopedia Astronautica article on the US-A RORSAT programme.

[11] "USSR - Luna Programme".

[12] "NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details".

[top_10-13] 1 2 "Top 10 Space Age Radiation Incidents". 20 January 2012.

[RORSAT-14] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 "US-A". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Mark Wade. 14 September 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-09-14. Retrieved 13 June 2018.

[Kosmos_1818-15] "Old Russian Nuclear Satellite Returns". Spacedaily.com. Retrieved 2016-02-23.

[proton-16] Lardier, Christian; Barensky, Stefan (March 27, 2018). The Proton Launcher: History and Developments. Wiley-ISTE. ISBN 978-1786301765.

[eneryspace-17] 1 2 3 4 Karacalıoğlu, Göktuğ (January 6, 2014). "Energy Resources for Space Missions". Space Safety Magazine. Retrieved January 18, 2014.

[Science_China_vol_56-18] SUN, ZeZhou; JIA, Yang; ZHANG, He (November 2013). "Technological advancements and promotion roles of Chang'e-3 lunar probe mission". Science China. 56 (11): 2702–2708. Bibcode:2013ScChE..56.2702S. doi:10.1007/s11431-013-5377-0. S2CID 111801601. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 March 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2013.

[jade_rabbit-19] "Chang'e-3 - Satellite Missions". earth.esa.int. ESA. Retrieved 12 June 2018.

[20] "Nuclear energy keeps Chandrayaan-3 propulsion module going". The Times of India. 2023-10-31. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2023-10-31.

[1]

v t e Nuclear-powered Earth satellites
Nuclear power in space List of nuclear power systems in space
Examples	SNAP-10A Transit-4A Transit-4B Transit 5BN-1 Transit 5BN-2 Kosmos 198 Kosmos 209 Kosmos 367 Kosmos 402 Kosmos 469 Kosmos 516 Kosmos 626 Kosmos 651 Kosmos 654 Kosmos 723 Kosmos 724 Kosmos 785 Kosmos 860 Kosmos 861 Kosmos 954 Kosmos 1176 Kosmos 1249 Kosmos 1266 Kosmos 1299 Kosmos 1365 Kosmos 1372 Kosmos 1402 Kosmos 1607 Kosmos 1670 Kosmos 1677 Kosmos 1682 Kosmos 1736 Kosmos 1771 Kosmos 1818 Kosmos 1860 Kosmos 1867 Kosmos 1900 Kosmos 1932 LES-8 LES-9
Re-entered	Kosmos 954 Kosmos 1402 Nimbus-B Nimbus 3 Transit 5BN-3 1973 Launch failure
See also Category:Nuclear power in space

List of nuclear power systems in space

See also

References