X-energy

Recognized under Tier 5 — Energy Production & Storage, X-energy is a nuclear technology company best known for the Xe-100, a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor that uses TRISO-coated uranium fuel pebbles and is designed to generate roughly 76-80 megawatts of electric power per module for terrestrial grids. The company has extended that reactor engineering into space through IX, a joint venture with Intuitive Machines, which NASA and the Department of Energy selected for a one-year study to mature a Fission Surface Power system capable of delivering at least 40 kilowatts of electricity to a lunar outpost by 2028. X-energy has also flagged interest in applying its TRISO fuel and reactor experience to nuclear thermal propulsion. For a Moon or Mars settlement, fission systems like the one X-energy is helping design solve what solar arrays cannot: steady, high-density power through two-week lunar nights and Martian dust storms.