Firefly Aerospace is integrating the Zeno Power payload into the Blue Ghost lunar lander, the launch of which is scheduled for 2028 year. The payload is a self-contained "Survival at Night" package («Survive-the-Night»), designed to demonstrate work during a moonlit night. The package contains a radioisotope heating unit (RHU) based on americium-241 capacity 5 Watts of thermal energy. This heat will maintain the operating temperature of the subsystems of the package, in particular, communication and power supply systems, under conditions of lowering the surface temperature to approximately –170 °C.
In the words of Zeno Power CEO Tyler Bernstein, the main purpose is to transmit a signal, which confirms the functionality of the system after five days of a lunar night. A successful demonstration will ensure that incentive requirements are met, provided by NASA within the framework of the task of the program "Commercial services for the delivery of a payload to the Moon" (CLPS), provided by Firefly in June 2026 year.
The ability to operate over multiple lunar day-night cycles is of increasing importance in the context of NASA's lunar base. Firefly space mission management director Fara Zubery noted, that the demonstration will provide important data on energy solutions for sustained activities on the lunar surface. The mission will also function as a regulatory pilot project regarding the approval procedure for the launch of nuclear payloads.
Source: https://spacenews.com