Fabian Alefeld interviews Omar Mireles, Director of Manufacture and Materials at Space Nuclear Power Corporation (Space Nukes), about his career spanning NASA, Oak Ridge, and Los Alamos and how additive manufacturing (AM) reshaped space hardware development. Omar describes early exposure to SLS prototyping, graduate work in nuclear materials and propulsion, building nuclear materials labs at NASA Marshall, and later leading AM efforts for liquid rocket engines and refractory metals.

He explains how AM accelerates iteration, enables complex geometries, part consolidation, and weight reduction, and where traditional methods still dominate depending on production rate. The conversation covers refractory metal challenges (supply chain, oxygen sensitivity, post-processing, inspection) and nuclear reactor basics, generations, and regulatory barriers to AM adoption. Omar outlines Space Nukes’ goal of delivering safe, affordable, reliable power anywhere in the solar system, noting heat rejection as a key space constraint, Krusty’s 2018 test heritage, potential AM roles in heat exchangers, and an aggressive ~2-year flight timeline depending on regulation and mission.

02:26 Omar Early Motivation

03:08 NASA Co-ops and First AM

07:59 Stirling Radiation Research

20:07 Refractory Metals AM Lab

21:31 Los Alamos to Space Nukes

25:14 Did AM Change Space Race

31:46 Where AM Flies Today

37:41 Rocket Engines Print vs Traditional

41:15 Refractory Alloys Challenges

46:39 Where Refractories Make Sense

47:05 Will Refractory AM Grow

49:39 NASA Metal AM Handbook Origins

56:37 How Nuclear Reactors Work

01:13:02 Additive Manufacturing in Nuclear

01:18:31 What Space Nukes Builds

01:19:36 Why Space Nuclear Power Matters

01:25:20 Why Space Needs Nukes

01:37:47 Krusty Test Proof

01:41:18 Heat Rejection Challenge

01:49:25 Timeline and First Missions