A Miami-based company is helping power the future of space exploration. City Labs builds small nuclear batteries designed to generate electricity for decades without needing sunlight, making them ideal for satellites and other spacecraft.
Earlier this month, the company reached a major milestone when its first commercial nuclear-powered payload launched into orbit aboard a SpaceX rocket.
It's called the BOHR, or Betavoltaic Orbital High-Reliability CubeSat, a miniature satellite built by City Labs that runs on its nano-tritium batteries. The company is testing whether its batteries can survive the extreme conditions of outer space.
"If we're gonna go to the next step in space, if we're gonna colonize the moon, we're gonna need nuclear power," City Labs CEO Peter Cabauy said.
He's a Miami native who believes local talent should have the opportunity to build and grow in the tech and engineering industries in their hometown.
While Miami has been fertile ground for other industries, like real estate our tourism, Cabauy said keeping South Florida's STEM talent has been an uphill battle, but one he is willing to push for.
He recently told WLRN about the SpaceX launch, what it could mean for future space missions and City Labs' South Florida roots.
This story has been edited for brevity and clarity.
WLRN: When people hear the words "nuclear power," it can sound a little intimidating. What's the biggest misconception about this technology, and how do you reassure people that it's safe?
CABAUY: When we hear "nuclear," we think of big cooling towers, reactors. They think of Homer Simpson working on those nuclear reactors, or they think of a mushroom cloud.
But when you think of nuclear micropower, which is what we do, think of when you go to the hospital and you get an X-ray or, God forbid, you have to get cancer treatment, proton therapy like we have in South Florida. That's nuclear micropower.
City Labs works with tritium. It's the first radioactive element in our periodic table, and it's been around us all our lives. In South Florida, if you go to the Metrorail station, there are [illuminated] tritium exit signs. You can stop the radiation with a sheet of paper [but] it's still nuclear.
We have to be safe. We have to abide by all the regulatory requirements, but it's safe enough to use around the public.
Some of your power systems recently flew on a SpaceX mission. What was launched, and why was that such a milestone for your company?
They have a rideshare program so that we can put satellites and just work with them. They allowed us to be on their Falcon 9. It's a big milestone, not just for our company, but for Miami.
I mean, we're the first to launch commercially anything that's nuclear. It's a big deal. It's a demonstration of the presidential memorandum that, back in 2019, was made so that commercial companies could launch nuclear material to space. What we're looking at is how our betavoltaic tritium power sources work in space.
If we're gonna go to the next step in space, if we're gonna colonize the moon, we're gonna need nuclear power.
The lunar night lasts two Earth weeks, so, solar, it can work [but] we have to have these big battery banks that are very, very heavy. They're massive. So imagine 100 kilograms of battery to be able to support a lunar lander to survive the lunar night, when half a kilogram of our tritium heaters would've been able to do that.
Why is that a big deal? Well, right now it's a million dollars a kilogram. [And] we could use that space to be able to put other electronics, other observation equipment, and we can get to the moon faster.
People often associate aerospace with Florida's Space Coast, but City Labs is based in Miami. Why was it important for you guys to build your company in South Florida?
I was born and raised in Miami. I went to graduate school after I left Florida International University. I got my bachelor's in physics there. I went to the University of Michigan for my Ph.D. in applied physics, and I came back and I was like, "We need to bring technology back to South Florida. We need advanced materials, advanced manufacturing happening here."
And I see a lot of students graduating from FIU, the University of Miami. They went to these schools. They studied engineering because of the hope that they would get a high-paying job. But then there's a brain drain coming out of Miami, going to other states, 'cause that's where all the engineering and science jobs are.
They're not here in Miami. So we wanted to make jobs for ourselves and our community. I have to admit, it's been hard. This has not been fertile ground, but it's changing. It's happening. And the reason it's happening is 'cause there's a certain DNA that people in Miami have. There's a spark that we have.
When we all come together, there's a combination of people that's really great to work with.
Copyright 2026 WLRN
