Rolls-Royce has received funding from the UK Space Agency to develop a nuclear reactor for a Moon base in a major step towards humans inhabiting other parts of the solar system.

In a statement, the government agency said researchers from the car manufacturer had been working on a micro-reactor programme “to develop technology that will provide power needed for humans to live and work on the Moon.”

The project, which has received £2.9 million of funding from the UKSA, will look into how nuclear power could be used to support a future base on the moon for astronauts.