OpenStar demonstrates first commercial levitated dipole fusion plasma confinement

Wellington based OpenStar demonstrated its levitated dipole approach to fusion plasma confinement on Tuesday. The company floated a half tonne magnet inside a vacuum chamber where it confined a cloud of ultra hot ionised gas. No support structures interfered with the plasma because the magnet levitates in order to confine the plasma around it held in place OpenStar said the successful experiment proves the technology for its first prototype Junior works and can scale to many times the size. The proprietary power supply housed inside the magnet stored a record 170 kilojoules of energy during the test. Only 10 watts of electrical power are needed to keep the magnet active for an indefinite period. Chief Executive Ratu Mataira said the demonstration shows that dipoles are not impossible to engineer. He said seeing the magnet levitate while confining plasma is a consequential step from inspired physics to tangible engineering reality. OpenStar founded in 2021 said the progress lays the groundwork for development of its next prototype Tahi.