Thea Energy logo black

history of the stellarator

Building on the stellarator legacy

1951

The stellarator was invented by Lyman Spitzer, founder of Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (“PPPL”).

Lyman was the father of both fusion research and space astronomy in the United States. He is also known for first proposing the Hubble Space Telescope.

Lyman Spitzer_stellarator

1983

The theoretical understanding of the stellarator underwent a massive transformation when Allen Boozer, the director of PPPL’s theory group, proposed the concept of quasi-symmetry.

This new paradigm enabled the design of stellarators that had confinement properties analogous to tokamaks (the leading fusion system concept at the time).

stellarator_ transformation

2018

The conceptual breakthrough of stellarator optimization was experimentally confirmed by Wendelstein 7-X, firmly placing the stellarator back on par with the tokamak.
theoretical understanding_stellarator

2021

Thea Energy co-founder and CTO David Gates developed stellarator magnet array technology at PPPL as part of the ARPA-E BETHE program.

As part of this project, David and his team successfully designed and prototyped scalable magnet array systems. Following these breakthroughs, Thea Energy spun out tech and a team from Princeton.

stellarator magnet array technology

1951

The stellarator was invented by Lyman Spitzer, founder of Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (“PPPL”).

Lyman was the father of both fusion research and space astronomy in the United States. He is also known for first proposing the Hubble Space Telescope.

Lyman Spitzer_stellarator

1983

The theoretical understanding of the stellarator underwent a massive transformation when Allen Boozer, the director of PPPL’s theory group, proposed the concept of quasi-symmetry.

This new paradigm enabled the design of stellarators that had confinement properties analogous to tokamaks (the leading fusion system concept at the time).

stellarator_ 1983 transformation

2018

The conceptual breakthrough of stellarator optimization was experimentally confirmed by Wendelstein 7-X, firmly placing the stellarator back on par with the tokamak.
conceptual breakthrough_stellarator

2021

Thea Energy co-founder and CTO David Gates developed stellarator magnet array technology at PPPL as part of the ARPA-E BETHE program.

As part of this project, David and his team successfully designed and prototyped scalable magnet array systems. Following these breakthroughs, Thea Energy spun out tech and a team from Princeton.

stellarator magnet array technology

The stellarator has been reborn as the most promising of all fusion technologies

Even after the theoretical and experimental breakthroughs of recent years, the stellarator’s 3D complexities meant that significant computational power was needed to fully master it. This limited the progress of further development, until recently.

Today’s computers have the capability to optimize the stellarator’s design like never before.

stellarator_fusion technology
stellarator_fusion technologies

Radically evolving the stellarator for tomorrow

Our proprietary stellarator technology utilizes arrays of planar magnets, eliminating the prohibitively complex and expensive 3D magnetic field coils required in all other proposed stellarator architectures.

Combined with the advent of modern high temperature superconductors, our stellarator breakthroughs have changed the trajectory of fusion energy.

stellarator technology_ planar magnets
Helios Power Plant

Stay in the loop

Stay in the loop

Subscribe to get the latest updates, insights, and more delivered straight to your inbox.