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OpenStar Technologies Limited
IndustryFusion power
Founded2021; 5 years ago (2021)
FounderRatu Mataira
Headquarters
Wellington
,
New Zealand
Number of employees
55 (2025)
Websiteopenstar.tech

OpenStar Technologies is a company based in Wellington, New Zealand, that is developing a nuclear fusion power reactor.[1] It aims to build a series of devices that lead to a model able to supply electricity to the grid by the 2030s.[2] While research has been conducted on fusion power for decades, no one has ever made a reactor capable of supplying electricity on a commercial scale.[3] Worldwide, there are about 45 companies developing nuclear fusion reactors.[4][5]

History

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The founder and CEO of OpenStar is Ratu Mataira,[6][7] who has completed a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at the Robinson Research Institute, of Victoria University of Wellington. The institute focuses on superconductors. After Mataira first learned of the levitated dipole concept for fusion reactors in 2020,[5] which the US government defunded in 2011,[8] Mataira founded the company in 2021.[9] According to 1News, OpenStar is the first New Zealand company to attempt to develop a nuclear fusion reactor.[5]

By 2024, the company has raised a total of NZ$20 million.[8] In 2024 Mataira estimated that the company would need between $500 million and $1 billion to successfully develop a fusion reactor.[9] He has suggested that the pharmaceutical industry might be interested in OpenStar as the company could produce isotopes required by the pharmaceutical industry that are traditionally made using nuclear fission.[5]

In November 2024, the company achieved the creation of plasma,[8] 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.[9] In February 2026 the New Zealand Government lent OpenStar $35 million through the Regional Development Fund.[10] The company says that it will use this money to build a new research facility.[11]

As of June 2025, OpenStar has 55 employees.[12]

Technology

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OpenStar is developing a levitated dipole reactor,[5] which uses a levitating superconducting torroidal battery-powered magnet that is placed and operates inside a vacuum chamber of cylindrical form modified with domed ends (a capsule or spherocylinder).[2] Their first machine is named Marsden,[2] after the English-New Zealand physicist Ernest Marsden, and its first magnet inside is named Junior.[1][8][9][13] The vacuum chamber (Marsden) diameter is about 5 metres (16 ft); the magnet (Junior) diameter is about 1 metre (3.3 ft). In most magnetic confinement fusion reactor designs, such as a tokamak, the magnets are placed outside of the vacuum chamber.[9][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".[9]

The firm's reactors will use the hydrogen isotopes deuterium, which has one neutron, and tritium, which has two neutrons.[14]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Paddison, Laura (29 November 2024). "A nuclear fusion startup just reached a milestone in its bid to commercialize unlimited clean energy". CNN. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
  2. ^ a b c Staff (2025). "OpenStar Technologies Limited". OpenStar. Wellington, New Zealand. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
  3. ^ Hogan, Finn (1 April 2024). "Inside OpenStar's ambitious attempt to build a nuclear fusion reactor in New Zealand". Stuff. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
  4. ^ Renoldi, Matteo (22 July 2025). "Nuclear fusion startups". Dealroom.co. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d e Hall, Kristin (6 August 2023). "Young Māori physicist seeking to harness power of the stars". 1News. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
  6. ^ Mataira, Ratu; Hall, Kristin (8 August 2023). Young Māori physicist seeking to harness power of the stars. 1News (video). Wellington, New Zealand: YouTube. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  7. ^ Mataira, Ratu; Weiss, Ben (9 July 2025). Ratu Mataira, CEO of OpenStar Technologies, on the breakthrough to make nuclear fusion at scale!. LegendsNLeaders (video). Wellington, New Zealand: YouTube. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  8. ^ a b c d "Inside Wellington's nuclear fusion experiment". The New Zealand Herald. 15 November 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  9. ^ a b c d e f "Nuclear fusion start-up claims milestone with unconventional reactor". Financial Times. 13 November 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  10. ^ "Openstar says $35m Government loan will help it stay in NZ". BusinessDesk. 4 February 2026. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  11. ^ "Wellington company secures funding for clean fusion power facility". RNZ. 4 February 2026. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  12. ^ "He's 32, has 55 employees, and is building a nuclear fusion reactor in Wellington". Stuff. 5 June 2025. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  13. ^ "Junior – OpenStar's Fusion Magnet". Substack. 30 August 2024.
  14. ^ Milne, Jonathan (1 August 2024). "Hopes to build world-first prototype fusion generator in NZ". Newsroom. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
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