Sino-United Spherical Tokamak (SUNIST), China’s first spherical tokamak, was completed in 2002 through a collaboration between the Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University and the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. It is developed to assist the knowledge of the basic features of low-aspect-ratio plasma and the exploration into methods for plasma startup and non-inductive current drive in spherical tokamaks. So far, it has maintained operation for more than 20 years and discharged over 100 thousand times, yielding fruitful outcomes.

SUNIST-2, also a spherical tokamak, is specially designed for the theoretical validation of repeated magnetic reconnection and the confinement performance of spherical tokamaks with a 1 T magnetic field. In June 2023, the device was completed under the cooperation between Startorus Fusion and Tsinghua University and achieved its first plasma. In the first half of the 2024, it will heat plasma to 17 million degrees Celsius (ion temperature) through repeated magnetic reconnection, hitting a milestone for the Company in the first stage. It will by then draw level with other advanced devices of the same kind in the world.

CTRFR-1, a validation device of fusion technologies designed and constructed by Startorus Fusion, is a medium-sized high-temperature superconducting spherical tokamak in which the plasma parameters are close to the requirements of reactors. More importantly, the plasma density, temperature and energy confinement time and other key parameters will all be close to or exceed the requirements for energy breakeven (Q=1), reaching a milestone for the Company in the second stage. With this device, the Company will validate the technical viability of repeated magnetic reconnection reactors. At present, the Company is working on the design of CTRFR-1 and has cooperated with teams from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University in designing and building a full-scale high-temperature superconducting D-shaped coil for the device.

When CTRFR-1 meets scheduled targets, Startorus Fusion will embark on the design and construction of a commercial demonstration reactor (CTRFR-2) and strive to make it the world's first demonstration reactor of commercial controlled fusion. With this reactor, the Company will partner with friends in the industry to validate the full fuel cycle, power output, and materials resistant to neutron/thermal loads in reactors and work out solutions to the first wall, tritium breeding blanket and other key technologies, thus striking a milestone in the third stage. The Company is committed to promoting the commercialization of fusion power at a steady pace.