# Junior levitated dipole by OpenStar Technologies

Canonical page: https://technooptimist.io/energy/junior-levitated-dipole
Frontier: [Energy](https://technooptimist.io/energy.md) · Field: Alternative fusion · Company: [OpenStar Technologies](https://technooptimist.io/companies/openstar-technologies.md)
Stage: Research (1 of 5: Research → Proto → Pilot → Deploy → Scaling)
Updated: last update 2026-02-17, facts checked 2026-10-11
Goal: Test whether one floating magnet can hold fusion plasma more simply and cheaply than a tokamak's giant external coils, as the first of a series of machines aiming at grid power in the 2030s.
Status: Levitated its 0.5 t magnet while holding plasma (Feb 2026); next device Tahi planned.
Next milestone: Facility for the next device, Tahi

## Milestones

| Status | Milestone | Date | Slip |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Done | Company founded in Wellington | 2021 |   |
| Done | First plasma with the magnet held by supports | Q4 2024 |   |
| Done | NZ$35M government loan for a new facility | 10 Feb 2026 |   |
| Done | Magnet levitated while confining plasma | 17 Feb 2026 |   |
| Current | Facility for the next device, Tahi |   |   |
| Planned | Device supplying power to the grid |   |   |

## Most important updates

- **17 Feb 2026**: OpenStar's Junior confines plasma around a levitating half-tonne superconducting magnet. OpenStar floated the 0.5-tonne superconducting magnet of its Junior prototype in a 5 m vacuum chamber, with no mechanical support, while confining plasma heated above 1 million °C. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/openstar-s-junior-confines-plasma-around-a-levitating-half-tonne-f65b9eb7.md) · [original source](https://interestingengineering.com/energy/first-plasma-confinement-via-levitated-magnet))
- **10 Feb 2026**: New Zealand lends OpenStar up to NZ$35 million for a fusion research facility. The New Zealand government is lending OpenStar up to NZ$35 million from its Regional Infrastructure Fund to build a purpose-built facility for its next fusion machine. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/new-zealand-lends-openstar-up-to-nz-35-million-for-a-fusion-research-93c72df6.md) · [original source](https://www.growregions.govt.nz/about-us/news/regional-infrastructure-fund-backs-fusion-energy-facility))

## Current obstacles

- **Temperature gap**: Over 1 million °C is a long way from the hundreds of millions fusion needs; Tahi must close much of that gap.
- **Funding a reactor**: Its founder estimated in 2024 that a working reactor needs $500M-1B; the company has raised about NZ$20M privately.

## Physics limits

- **A magnet inside a star**: The ring sits in the middle of the plasma with no physical connection, so it must stay superconducting and survive heat and neutrons without wires or pipes to cool it.

## How it works

### Dipole field: A planet's magnetosphere in a tank

A ring magnet makes a field like Earth's or Jupiter's; plasma spread around it is naturally squeezed toward the ring and held there.

### Levitation: Why the magnet must float

Supports holding the ring would cool the plasma and make it unstable; floating it removes every solid contact with the plasma.

### Control: External magnets keep it in place

Electromagnets outside the chamber, adjusted in real time, hold the half-tonne ring steady while it is charged and floating.

## Spec sheet

| Spec | Junior levitated dipole | Provenance |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Levitated magnet | About 0.5 tonnes | reported |
| Magnet diameter | About 1 m | reported |
| Vacuum chamber width | About 5 m | reported |
| Plasma temperature | Over 1 million °C | reported |
| Prototype cost | About NZ$10 million | reported |

Provenance: reported = stated by the company; estimated = our estimate; sample = a sample figure.

## About OpenStar Technologies

Wellington, New Zealand startup founded in 2021 that floats a superconducting ring magnet inside a vacuum chamber to hold plasma, the levitated dipole approach, modelled on the magnetic fields around planets like Jupiter.

- Prototype Junior levitated its half-tonne magnet while confining plasma above 1 million °C in February 2026.
- Up to NZ$35 million government loan (Feb 2026) for a facility to house its next device, Tahi.
- Raised about NZ$20 million privately by 2024; plans a neutron-source business before fusion power.

- Founded: 2021
- Headquarters: NZ
- Status: private
- Staff: ~55
- People: Ratu Mataira (Founder and CEO)
- Partners, customers, investors: New Zealand Government (investor)

Company page: https://technooptimist.io/companies/openstar-technologies.md

## Related programs

Everything in Energy: https://technooptimist.io/energy.md

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