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OpenStar - Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

OpenStar Technologies Limited
Industry	Fusion power
Founded	2021; 4 years ago (2021)
Founder	Ratu Mataira
Headquarters	Wellington , New Zealand
Number of employees	55 (2025)
Website	openstar.tech

OpenStar Technologies^[1] is a company based in Wellington, New Zealand, that is developing a nuclear fusion power reactor. It aims to build a series of devices that lead to a model able to supply electricity to the grid by the 2030s. While research has been conducted on fusion power for decades, no one has ever made a reactor able to supply electricity on a commercial scale.^[2] Worldwide, there are about 45 companies developing nuclear fusion reactors.^[3]

History

The founder and CEO of OpenStar is Ratu Mataira, who has completed a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at the Robinson Research Institute, of the Victoria University of Wellington. The institute focusses on superconductors. After Mataira first learned of the levitated dipole concept for fusion reactors in 2020,^[3] which the US government defunded in 2011,^[4] Mataira founded the company in 2021.^[5] According to 1News, OpenStar is the first New Zealand company to try building a nuclear fusion reactor.^[3]

As of 2024^[update], the company has raised NZ$20 million.^[4] Mataira has said that the company would need between $500 million and $1 billion to successfully develop a fusion reactor.^[5] Mataira has suggested that the pharmaceutical industry may be interested in OpenStar as the company could produce isotopes required by the pharmaceutical industry that are traditionally made using nuclear fission.^[3]

In November 2024, the company achieved the creation of plasma,^[4] which lasted for 20 seconds at 300,000 °C (540,000 °F). Temperatures in the hundreds of millions of degrees are required for fusion to occur.^[5]

As of June 2025^[update], OpenStar has 55 employees.^[6]

Technology

OpenStar is developing a levitated dipole reactor,^[3] which uses a levitating battery-powered superconducting torroidal magnet that is placed and operates inside a roughly cylindrical vacuum chamber. Their first machine is named Marsden,^[7] after New Zealand physicist Ernest Marsden, and its first magnet inside is named Junior.^[4]^[5]^[1]^[8] The vacuum chamber diameter (Marsden) is about 5 metres (16 ft); the magnet (Junior) diameter is about 1 metre (3.3 ft). In a typical fusion reactor design, such as a tokamak, the magnets are outside the vacuum chamber.^[5]^[1] According to Mataira, "The core engineering challenge is how do you make a magnet that's surrounded by plasma operate for long enough to be useful".^[5]

The company is using the hydrogen isotopes deuterium, which has one neutron, and tritium, which has two neutrons.^[9]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "A nuclear fusion startup just reached a milestone in its bid to commercialize unlimited clean energy". CNN. 29 November 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
^ "Inside OpenStar's ambitious attempt to build a nuclear fusion reactor in New Zealand". Stuff. 1 April 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Young Māori physicist seeking to harness power of the stars". 1News. 6 August 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Inside Wellington's nuclear fusion experiment". The New Zealand Herald. 15 November 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Nuclear fusion start-up claims milestone with unconventional reactor". Financial Times. 13 November 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
^ "He's 32, has 55 employees, and is building a nuclear fusion reactor in Wellington". Stuff. 5 June 2025. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
^ "OpenStar Technologies Limited". OpenStar. 2025.
^ "Junior – OpenStar's Fusion Magnet". Substack. 30 August 2024.
^ Milne, Jonathan (1 August 2024). "Hopes to build world-first prototype fusion generator in NZ". Newsroom. Retrieved 12 September 2025.

Fusion power, processes and devices

Core topics

Nuclear fusion	Burning plasma Timeline List of experiments List of technologies Commercial Aneutronic

Processes,
methods

Confinement
type

Gravitational	Alpha process Triple-alpha process CNO cycle Helium flash Nova remnants Proton–proton chain Carbon-burning Lithium burning Neon-burning Oxygen-burning Silicon-burning R-process S-process
Magnetic	Field-reversed configuration Levitated dipole Magnetic mirror Bumpy torus Pinch Dense plasma focus Reversed field Theta Zeta Stellarator Tokamak Spherical Spheromak Dynomak Toroidal solenoid
Magneto-inertial	Magnetized liner Magnetized target
Inertial	Bubble (acoustic) Laser-driven Ion-driven
Electrostatic	Fusor Polywell

Other forms

Devices,
experiments

Magnetic
confinement

Tokamak

International	ITER DEMO PROTO
Americas	STOR-M Alcator C-Mod ARC SPARC DIII-D Electric Tokamak LTX NSTX PLT TFTR Pegasus Riggatron SSPX ETE TCABR Novillo [es]
Asia, Oceania	CFETR EAST HT-7 HH70 HL-2A HL-2M SUNIST ADITYA SST-1 JT-60 QUEST [ja] GLAST KSTAR TT-1
Europe	JET COMPASS GOLEM [cs] TFR WEST ASDEX Upgrade TEXTOR DTT FTU IGNITOR ISTTOK T-15 TCV MAST-U START STEP

Stellarator

Americas	SCR-1 CNT CTH HIDRA HSX Model C NCSX
Asia, Oceania	H-1NF Heliotron J LHD
Europe	WEGA Wendelstein 7-AS Wendelstein 7-X TJ-II Uragan-2M Uragan-3M [uk]

Levitated dipole

Marsden
LDX

Pinch

Sceptre ZETA Perhapsatron
RFP	RFX MST

Field-reversed
configuration

PFRC
Colliding	C-2U, C-2W–Norman, Copernicus Grande, Venti, Trenta Trisops

Mirror

Magneto-inertial

Inertial
confinement

Laser

Americas	Argus Cyclops Janus LIFE Long path NIF Nike Nova OMEGA Shiva
Asia	GEKKO XII
Europe	HiPER Asterix IV (PALS) LMJ LULI2000 ISKRA Vulcan

Non-laser

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