--- title: City Labs launches the first commercial nuclear satellite description: City Labs has launched BOHR, the first commercial nuclear-powered satellite, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare on July 7. About the size of a softball, BOHR... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/city-labs-launches-the-first-commercial-nuclear-satellite-y3aga4l89 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: City Labs launches the first commercial nuclear satellite | daily.dev og:description: City Labs has launched BOHR, the first commercial nuclear-powered satellite, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare on July 7. About the size of a softball, BOHR... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/city-labs-launches-the-first-commercial-nuclear-satellite-y3aga4l89 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/Y3aga4l89.png og:image:alt: City Labs launches the first commercial nuclear satellite og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # City Labs launches the first commercial nuclear satellite **[The Next Web](https://daily.dev/sources/tnw)** · 3 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary City Labs has launched BOHR, the first commercial nuclear-powered satellite, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare on July 7. About the size of a softball, BOHR uses a betavoltaic battery powered by tritium decay — not a reactor — to generate nanowatts to microwatts of electricity for decades without sunlight. The satellite bus still relies on solar panels; the nuclear battery powers only the payload as a proof-of-concept. BOHR is the first commercial mission to use the FAA's nuclear launch approval pathway, cleared in September 2025 after Sandia National Laboratories reviewed the safety case. The technology targets use cases where solar fails, such as long lunar nights, permanently shadowed craters, and deep-space sensors. Funding comes from the US Department of War, NASA, Air Force research arms, and a $1.5m DARPA contract for next-generation development. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Tritium Nuclear Battery Offers Low-Risk Space Energy](https://daily.dev/posts/tritium-nuclear-battery-offers-low-risk-space-energy-djcaiiwus) · IEEE Spectrum · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [These are the flying discs the government wants you to know about](https://daily.dev/posts/these-are-the-flying-discs-the-government-wants-you-to-know-about-qoqtngcez) · Ars Technica · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [The Download: making drugs in orbit and NASA’s nuclear-powered spacecraft](https://daily.dev/posts/the-download-making-drugs-in-orbit-and-nasa-s-nuclear-powered-spacecraft-egsoqgnih) · MIT Technology Review · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [UK's NewOrbit raises $18.5M to commercialise very low orbit](https://daily.dev/posts/uk-s-neworbit-raises-18-5m-to-commercialise-very-low-orbit-fvr1xqyxf) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#space-technology](https://daily.dev/tags/space-technology) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/city-labs-launches-the-first-commercial-nuclear-satellite-y3aga4l89) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"City Labs launches the first commercial nuclear satellite","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/city-labs-launches-the-first-commercial-nuclear-satellite-y3aga4l89","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/city-labs-launches-the-first-commercial-nuclear-satellite-y3aga4l89"},"datePublished":"2026-07-08T19:55:20.558Z","dateModified":"2026-07-08T19:55:42.435Z","description":"City Labs has launched BOHR, the first commercial nuclear-powered satellite, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare on July 7. 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