Proxima Fusion publishes Stellaris optimization study — 5 GW thermal target

Proxima Fusion published a peer-reviewed optimization study in Fusion Engineering and Design outlining the technical case for “Stellaris,” a 5 GW-thermal quasi-isodynamic stellarator pilot plant. The paper builds on the company's lineage from the Wendelstein 7-X programme at Max Planck IPP.

Proxima's analysis emphasizes stellarators' steady-state operation, the absence of disruption risk, and the engineering tractability of modern high-temperature superconducting coil-set optimization. Critics point to the historical complexity and cost of stellarator construction; Proxima counters that ML-aided coil design has compressed the design cycle by an order of magnitude.