| Company type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Fusion power |
| Founded | 2011 |
| Founder | Dr Nicholas Hawker Prof Yiannis Ventikos |
| Headquarters | Oxford, United Kingdom |
Key people | Mark Thomas (CEO) David Bryon (CFO) Ryan Ramsey (COO) Bart Markus (Chairman) |
| Website | firstlightfusion |
First Light Fusion Ltd is a British inertial confinement fusion research company based in Oxfordshire, England. [1] The company was founded in 2011 as the first private fusion company in the UK researching fusion energy through inertial confinement. [2]
First Light Fusion was founded by Dr Nicholas Hawker and his former academic adviser Professor Yiannis Ventikos in 2011, as a research spin-off at the University of Oxford. [3] [4] Ventikos had suggested forming the company based on Hawker's research into hydrodynamic simulations of shock-driven cavity collapse. [4] [5] Part of Hawker's PhD research had involved studying the cavity collapse caused by a pistol shrimp's claw. [6] The company initially raised seed capital from IP Group, Parkwalk Advisors and a number of angel investors. [7]
In April 2022, the company announced it had demonstrated fusion using a projectile driver approach and its amplifier technology in November 2021. [8] The result was validated by the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). [8] [9]
In January 2023, it was announced that the company had entered an agreement with the UK Atomic Energy Authority to develop the largest pulsed power machine in the world, "Machine 4" at UKAEA in Culham, Oxfordshire. The machine was intended to demonstrate the capacity of projectile fusion to reach net energy gain. [10] The company announced in February 2025 it no longer intended to develop Machine 4. [11]
In March 2024, the company announced that it had set a record of 1.85 terapascals with an 80-terawatt shot on the Z Machine at Sandia National Laboratories using its pressure amplification technology. [12]
In February 2025, the company announced the appointment of Mark Thomas, former chief executive of Reaction Engines, as its chief executive, replacing Nicholas Hawker. [13]
First Light Fusion published an updated strategy in March 2025. [14] This strategic update established a new focus on generating revenue by commercialising the company's proprietary amplifier technology and aiming for customers both in and out of the inertial fusion industry. [14]
In the same month, the company set a new pressure record on Sandia’s Z Machine using its pressure amplifier technology. [15] In its second experiment on the Z Machine, First Light Fusion recorded an output pressure of 3.67 terapascals, doubling the pressure the company reached in its first experiment on the machine in March 2024. [15] [16]
In September 2025, First Light Fusion launched FLARE [17] - their new approach to economically viable Inertial Fusion Energy.
FLARE (Fusion via Low-power Assembly and Rapid Excitation) is a proposed approach to inertial fusion energy under development by First Light Fusion. The method aims to transfer much of the performance requirements from the driver system to the fusion target itself. Instead of employing large and costly laser arrays, the system uses modular low-voltage pulsed power devices to deliver electrical currents into hollow metal cylinders, known as liners. These liners implode under magnetic pressure, compressing the deuterium–tritium fuel within to high density. The process of ignition would then be achieved separately, either by a short-pulse laser or an additional pulsed-power stage. [17]