Hardware Podcasts

AM Rocket Engines and Space Nuclear Power with Omar Mireles

Additive Snack · 23 Jun 2026 · 1h 58m · Episode 35

What this episode covers

Omar Mireles, Director of Manufacture and Materials at Space Nuclear Power Corporation (Space Nukes), discusses how additive manufacturing (AM) accelerates the development of space nuclear reactors and liquid rocket engines. He details his career at NASA, Oak Ridge, and Los Alamos, focusing on the challenges of printing refractory metals like niobium and tungsten, and explains Space Nukes' goal of delivering safe, affordable power anywhere in the solar system using a Krusty design heritage. Mireles outlines an aggressive ~2-year flight timeline, noting that heat rejection and regulatory barriers are the primary constraints, while AM enables part consolidation and weight reduction in complex geometries.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Space Nuclear Power Corporation, Space Nukes, NASA, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Concept Laser, Westinghouse, Penn United
Products
Krusty, SNAP-10A, Delft, SAFE-100, X-Line 1000 R
Materials
C103, Niobium, Tantalum, Rhenium, Molybdenum, Tungsten

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