In recent days, Startorus Fusion (hereinafter referred to as Startorus) raised hundreds of millions of RMB from many investors, including Shunwei Capital, Kunlun Capital, CAS Star, Telescope Investment, MSA Capital, Sequoia Seed Fund, K2 Angel Partners, Unity Ventures, Legend Star, Inno Angel Fund, Oriza Seed and Huafang Capital, to develop controlled fusion energy. With this round of financing, Startorus will construct its spherical tokamak in Xixian new area, Xi’an City, Shaanxi province. It is expected that the installation and testing of the device will complete within this year and plasma will be initiated and heated up to 1.5 keV (about 17 million degrees Celsius). Through such work, Startorus aims to verify the feasibility of its controlled fusion proposal and level the plasma parameters of its tokamak with those of the world’s leading devices of the same size.
Controlled nuclear fusion possesses numerous advantages, such as unlimited raw material reserves, inherent safety, zero carbon emissions, and no environmental pollution. It has long been regarded as the ultimate solution to human energy crisis. Controlled fusion will help significantly reduce, or even eliminate, our dependence on fossil fuels, thus becoming an important pathway for achieving sustainable development for humanity. Additionally, the energy industry is bound to undergo a structural overhaul in the era of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. Therefore, controlled nuclear fusion, known as the “ultimate energy source” for humankind, holds immeasurable market prospects and social significance.
Tokamaks have excellent performance and face relatively lower difficulties in construction and operation. That’s why it has been the dominating path to controlled nuclear fusion since the 1970s, and has been extensively researched worldwide. Currently, there are over 100 tokamaks that have been built or are under construction globally. Some well-known examples include the international project ITER, TFTR and DIII-D in the United States, JT-60/U/SA in Japan, JET in the United Kingdom (Europe), KSTAR in South Korea, as well as China’s EAST and HL-2A/M. A large number of tokamak-based experimental results have demonstrated the scientific feasibility of magnetically confined controlled nuclear fusion. This has also led to the development of spherical tokamaks that exhibit better stability and higher beta value (which indicates better economic performance).
Commercial fusion energy development characterized by compactness and rapid iteration has experienced unprecedented growth in recent years, as technologies such as high-temperature superconductivity and advanced materials continue to progress, and innovative nuclear fusion concepts mushroom. Numerous big-name investment institutions and private capital entities at home and abroad have dabbled in the field and made strategic investments. Just last year, global private equity financing exceeded a total amount of USD 4 billion.
Founded in 2021, Startorus Fusion is dedicated to constructing the first commercial controlled fusion reactor in China. It will delve deep into the application of commercial fusion energy and the development of related technologies, and aspires to grow into a world-class fusion tech company that integrates research and development, design, and operation and maintenance.
The core R&D team of the company consists of members from the fusion team of the Department of Engineering Physics at Tsinghua University. The team has operated China’s first spherical tokamak (SUNIST) for nearly 20 years, thus accumulating extensive expertise in spherical tokamaks and related technologies. The team has proposed and contrived a Compact-Tokamak based repetitive Reconnection-heated Fusion Reactor (CTRFR). Building upon the foundation of high-temperature superconducting spherical tokamaks with strong magnetic fields, this innovative design incorporates multi-stroke repeated operation and plasma current-driven magnetic reconnection heating.
The core R&D team of the company consists of members from the fusion team of the Department of Engineering Physics at Tsinghua University. The team has operated China’s first spherical tokamak (SUNIST) for nearly 20 years, thus accumulating extensive expertise in spherical tokamaks and related technologies. The team has proposed and contrived a Compact-Tokamak based repetitive Reconnection-heated Fusion Reactor (CTRFR). Building upon the foundation of high-temperature superconducting spherical tokamaks with strong magnetic fields, this innovative design incorporates multi-stroke repeated operation and plasma current-driven magnetic reconnection heating. It will require far less auxiliary equipment, reduce the complexity of the fusion reactor, and enhance the tritium breeding ratio. The team’s simple yet efficient and economical technical solution has received support from national research projects, such as the Major Research Instrumentation Program under the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Scientific Challenge Special Project. The company plans to verify the technical and engineering feasibility of the proposed solution through rapid iteration across multiple phases, and spare no effort in developing a commercial demonstration fusion reactor.
