First Commercial Satellite with Nuclear Battery Launches

A new era of commercial space power began this week with the successful launch of the world's first satellite equipped with a commercial nuclear battery. The BOHR satellite, developed by Miami-based City Labs, was carried to orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, as part of a rideshare mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The Betavoltaic Orbital High-Reliability (BOHR) satellite is a CubeSat, a small spacecraft roughly the size of a softball. Its primary objective is to test a novel power source in space: a betavoltaic battery that generates electricity from the radioactive decay of tritium, a form of hydrogen. This "NanoTritium" system converts beta particles emitted during decay into a small but steady trickle of electrical current. While the satellite's main systems will rely on conventional solar panels, the onboard nuclear battery will power a dedicated payload to demonstrate its functionality in the space environment.

City Labs CEO Peter Cabauy hailed the launch as a historic step for commercial nuclear power in space. He stated that the mission demonstrates that safe, compact, and regulatory-approved nuclear power systems are ready...