Fusion power startups are increasingly turning to the defense industry for funding and partnerships as venture capital for climate technology has stalled. Xcimer, a laser-based fusion startup, announced last week a partnership with and investment from RTX, the conglomerate that includes defense contractor Raytheon. Under the deal, Xcimer receives funding from RTX Ventures, while RTX can explore using Xcimer's lasers for its own purposes.
Denver-based Xcimer operates what it says is the largest privately owned laser system in the world. The company plans to use the system, called Phoenix, to develop a power plant where lasers bombard fuel targets and compress them until atoms fuse and release energy. Phoenix runs at an order of magnitude lower power than a power plant will require, but it is powerful enough to draw defense industry interest.
The defense sector has explored laser weapons for years, and interest has risen as drones have reshaped modern warfare. Traditional air defense systems were built to target human-piloted aircraft, which are larger and fewer in number. About a decade ago, a U.S. ally used a $3 million Patriot missile to shoot down a $200 consumer drone, an effective but inefficient match. Laser weapons fire quickly and relatively cheaply, drawing electricity from a generator or a ship's reactor or engine.
Xcimer is not alone in pursuing defense work. Pacific Fusion announced a memorandum of understanding last month with the National Nuclear Security Administration to collaborate on high-energy-density fusion experiments. The startup recently broke ground on a demonstration facility in New Mexico not far from the Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories.
The facility's primary purpose is to show that Pacific Fusion's design can generate more power than it consumes, but it has other uses. Its fusion reactions will be far more powerful than those the government currently uses for nuclear weapons experiments. Keith LeChein, co-founder and chief technical officer at Pacific Fusion, said the facility also has utility in what he called a world-leading defense application.
Carrie von Muench, co-founder and chief operating officer at Pacific Fusion, said defense applications were always on the company's mind, and the overlap is not a coincidence. LeChien, who developed the company's core technology, previously worked at Sandia National Laboratories, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and the National Nuclear Security Administration.
Fusion power dates to physicists who sought more constructive uses for the science behind Cold War thermonuclear bombs, and the national security angle never fully disappeared. A groundbreaking fusion power experiment in 2022 took place at the National Ignition Facility, which has supported national security applications for more than 25 years. Fusion startups have captured a large share of recent climate tech funding, but fusion is expensive, and venture capitalists welcome additional sources of money.
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