NearStar Fusion

Founded by Princeton-trained plasma physicist F. Douglas Witherspoon, NearStar Fusion uses advanced plasma railguns to fire hypervelocity projectiles into an injected magnetized plasma target. The kinetic impact generates the shockwaves needed to compress the plasma to fusion conditions — sidestepping superconducting magnets and laser arrays.

Buy fusion conditions with kinetic energy delivered cheaply by a railgun; everything else becomes a downstream materials problem.

• Projectile-target alignment at km/s velocities
• Railgun electrode wear and repetition rate

1. 2021

   Company founded; spinoff of HyperJet Fusion lineage

2. 2023

   Plasma-railgun acceleration milestone reported