Morgan Boardman - Micro-Power Sources for Spacecraft: The Ex Terra Podcast

Power demands for small satellites can not always be met by solar panels alone. They often require micro-power sources to ensure they can function for the life of their missions. And according to MarketsandResearch, the space power electronics market is projected to grow from $205 million in 2021 to $435 million by 2026.

On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Morgan Boardman, CEO of Arkenlight, a UK-based developer and manufacturer of such micro-power sources, including nuclear batteries.

Arkenlight is the natural progression of the ASPIRE diamond group housed at the University of Bristol in the U.K. The company’s radiovoltaic technology was developed by Professors Tom Scott and Neil Fox and their team of energy and diamond material scientists.

The company’s mission is to recycle wastes from the nuclear power industry such as Tritium and Carbon-14 and safely convert them into useful products that benefit the technological advancement of humanity.

Morgan is a committed technologist whose knowledge spans from the deeply technical & scientific to the commercialization of high technology concepts. He joined the ASPIRE group in 2019, prior to the formation of the Arkenlight, to focus on commercializing a full range of radiovoltaics.

Arkenlight has one patent with more coming, covering the process of incorporating radioisotopes into diamond material and manufacturing.

Among the products in development is the betalight voltaic battery, a type of nuclear battery which generates electrical current from a gaseous tritium light source (GTLS) or betalight vial and a scintillator sandwiched between two photovoltaic cells.

The GTLS gives a steady glow, while the tritium undergoes beta particle decay, and these particles excite the phosphor. The optical photons from the betalight are collected in a standard photo-voltaic (PV) cell, creating electrical current at the voltage of the PV cell. It will power devices for decades, according to the company.

How does what happens in space affect your everyday life? The Ex Terra podcast is dedicated to introducing you to many of the interesting people involved in the commercial space industry, and taking you behind the scenes with many of the companies making significant contributions to the new space economy. The podcast is available on Anchor, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Overcast, Pocketcasts and Radio Public.