An Australian-led additive manufacturing project is poised to transform how long-duration space and defence missions are powered, addressing one of the most persistent challenges in extreme environments: reliable, maintenance-free energy.
The Additive Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (AMCRC) is supporting South Australian nuclear engineering company entX to transition its GenX Betavoltaic Power Generator prototype into pre-commercial production. Developed with Adelaide University, GenX is a next-generation nuclear battery that combines additive manufacturing with advanced surface engineering to deliver unprecedented power density in a compact form.
Traditional power sources often struggle in spacecraft, unmanned underwater vehicles and remote defence systems where maintenance, refuelling or solar access is impractical.
Dr Scott Edwards, entX general manager for Space and Defence, said: “Reliable, long-life power is one of the biggest bottlenecks facing space, subsea and defence systems. GenX fundamentally changes what’s possible. By re-engineering betavoltaics as ultra-thin, additively manufactured devices, we’re achieving power densities that were previously out of reach and enabling entirely new mission profiles.”
At the heart of GenX is a novel manufacturing process integrating additive manufacturing with advanced coating and thin-film deposition.
Nanoscale layers of metal, metal-oxide and semiconductor are sequentially built into complex functional architectures, producing ultra-thin betavoltaic films that surpass current global performance benchmarks.
Professor Drew Evans, who helped develop the prototype and will lead the research project at Adelaide University, said: “This is not an incremental improvement – it’s a genuine step-change. By combining novel semiconductor deposition methods with additive manufacturing and surface engineering, we’ve demonstrated betavoltaic devices with power densities that simply weren’t achievable using conventional approaches.”
Over the next 14 months, entX and Adelaide University will validate the GenX device and its manufacturing process for customer evaluation.
This includes scaling physical vapour deposition (PVD) to form high-efficiency electrical junctions and rapidly prototyping radiation-shield encasements for safe integration into space, defence and remote systems.
Simon Marriott, managing director of AMCRC, said: “This $1.8m project is a clear example of how additive manufacturing can take breakthrough research and make it manufacturable at scale. By supporting the transition from laboratory prototype to integrated production, AMCRC is helping Australian innovators bring world-leading technologies to market faster and with lower risk.”
The project aims to deliver a world-first, high-power betavoltaic demonstrator, positioning entX and Australia at the forefront of high-power betavoltaic manufacturing.
Professor Evans added: “As global demand grows for long-duration, maintenance-free power systems, GenX demonstrates how additive manufacturing is enabling entirely new classes of products, turning Australia’s research strengths into globally competitive manufacturing outcomes.”
