Damien Scott

Resident @AsteraInstitute. mapping AI-accelerated paths to sub-1¢/kWh fusion.

[Damien Scott @damienscott]

the new space: fusion analogy is useful right up until the customer problem

thoughtful analysis from my colleague Mallory Snowden, drawing on 14 years in aerospace

[1cfe @1cfenergy]

The space industry is being invoked as a reference point for U.S. fusion policy. The right reference era isn't Apollo. It's New Space.

1cFE's Systems Engineering Lead, who comes from aerospace, explores what fusion can learn and where the analogy breaks

[Damien Scott @damienscott]

Is direct energy conversion a key technology for low cost fusion? Turns out it's complicated

[1cfe @1cfenergy]

Most fusion power plant designs convert plasma energy to electricity via a steam turbine. Direct energy conversion captures charged fusion products as current alongside a thermal cycle or replacing it. New 1cFE post by Tal Rubin on where DEC pays off, and where it doesn't

[Damien Scott @damienscott]

Mars Terraforming. Fusion.

Making the Expanse a little more plausible at @AsteraInstitute

Superb work from my fellow resident @edwinkite and colleagues.

[Edwin Kite @edwinkite]

"A research roadmap for assessing the feasibility of warming Mars"

[Damien Scott @damienscott]

Exploring the fusion cost floor

[1cfe @1cfenergy]

What does a fusion plant cost if the core is free?

For D-T: $29/MWh. Nearly 3x the 1c/kWh target we're chasing.

The cost uncertainty isn't in the turbines or the buildings. It's in the core. So we removed
it.

New dispatch by Tal Rubin https://t.co/fzIeYFNw9m

[1cfe @1cfenergy]

What does a fusion plant cost if the core is free?

For D-T: $29/MWh. Nearly 3x the 1c/kWh target we're chasing.

The cost uncertainty isn't in the turbines or the buildings. It's in the core. So we removed
it.

New dispatch by Tal Rubin https://t.co/fzIeYFNw9m

[Damien Scott @damienscott]

Fusion progress is measured in plasma milestones
Cost will be determined by what happens between the plasma and the grid

[1cfe @1cfenergy]

Fusion headlines: record plasma temperatures, confinement milestones, Q > 1

What they skip: between the plasma and the grid lie three engineering problems that are largely unsolved and underinvested.

New dispatch from Mallory Snowden, Systems Engineering Lead

[Doris Tsao @doristsao]

Apr 19 is nearing...please apply to become an Astera Resident if you are excited by the prospect of spending 12-18 months diving deep & building at the frontier of neuroscience/AI/robotics and meta science. Within the realm of neuro, we welcome all ideas from tools to theory. Crazy ambitious is good. I guarantee you will find Astera a one-of-a-kind ecosystem--it's paradise for a certain kind of person.

[Eli Dourado @elidourado]

In fusion, starting with technoeconomic analysis is not the norm, resulting in concepts that won't be transformative even if they work.

Really appreciate the work @damienscott is doing to create open source TEAs for a huge class of concepts. https://t.co/VWSF88cytJ

[Damien Scott @damienscott]

Getting fusion to work is one of the hardest science and engineering problems

Getting it cheap enough to transform the primary energy supply civilization runs on is what ultimately matters

[Astera Institute @AsteraInstitute]

Fusion at 1¢/kWh? Read how @AsteraInstitute Resident @damienscott is mapping what must be true to get there. https://t.co/J50CvO3Zp5

[Damien Scott @damienscott]

@pronounced_kyle In

[Damien Scott @damienscott]

Great work from @jfp_fusioneer. LCON (levelized cost of a neutron) captures in a standardized way what LCOE misses for near-term fusion: revenue from isotope production and precious metals on the path to grid scale

[Jason Parisi @jfp_fusioneer]

New paper on the levelized cost of fusion neutrons (https://t.co/NA8rzT0FV6) and big-picture explanation (https://t.co/QfuHilPpMe). I'm excited about this work - it provides a fundamental measure for progress in the fusion industry: how efficiently we can produce fusion neutrons

[Damien Scott @damienscott]

Astera's Fall 2026 residency applications are open. Deadline April 19th. 12-18 months fully funded.

Focus is neuro, AI and life sciences. Open track too.

$2.5B foundation, unlike anything else out there.

I'm a current resident working on sub-1¢/kWh fusion. Apply.

https://t.co/vWWQ5ZMWyG

[Astera Institute @AsteraInstitute]

3/ We're also refocusing our residency program around these disciplines. Applications are now open for our Fall 2026 cohort. We're looking for ambitious projects in Neuro & AI, Life Sciences & Open Science, or other work aligned with Astera's mission. 12–18 months, fully funded, in-person in Emeryville. Apply by April 19th; link below.

[1cfe @1cfenergy]

Introducing 1cFE a research effort at the Astera Institute exploring a specific question: what must be true for fusion energy to reach a levelized cost of electricity at or below $0.01/kWh?

https://t.co/6yvPsJXixo

[Damien Scott @damienscott]

this is how the cost conversation should work: what needs to be true, line by line

Fusion faces the same cost stack: power density, modularity, factory learning rate, WACC compression, replacement cadence. Just with less operational data and maturity to calibrate against

Working backward from an aggressive steady state cost is what keeps the focus on the levers necessary to drive energy down to a level that upgrades civilization

[Damien Scott @damienscott]

Incredibly important and exciting

[Astera Institute @AsteraInstitute]

We’re launching Astera Neuro, a new neuroscience research effort led by @doristsao as Chief Scientist. Our aim is to unravel a profound scientific mystery: how the brain transforms sensory inputs into conscious experience.

Advancing this work could illuminate the computational principles that drive perception and cognition and inspire approaches for neuroscience-informed AI research, potentially generating new pathways to AGI.

Astera will support this work with $600M+ over the next decade. Read more: https://t.co/GIFPBRyrT0

[Andrew McCarthy @AJamesMcCarthy]

Immense planning and technical precision was required for this absolutely preposterous (but real) view: I captured my friend @BlackGryph0n transiting the sun during a skydive.

This might be the first photo of it's kind in existence. See a video of this moment in the reply 👇

[Jared Isaacman @rookisaacman]

Thank you, Mr. President @POTUS, for this opportunity. It will be an honor to serve my country under your leadership. I am also very grateful to @SecDuffy, who skillfully oversees @NASA alongside his many other responsibilities.

The support from the space-loving community has been overwhelming. I am not sure how I earned the trust of so many, but I will do everything I can to live up to those expectations.

To the innovators building the orbital economy, to the scientists pursuing breakthrough discoveries and to dreamers across the world eager for a return to the Moon and the grand journey beyond--these are the most exciting times since the dawn of the space age-- and I truly believe the future we have all been waiting for will soon become reality.

And to the best and brightest at NASA, and to all the commercial and international partners, we have an extraordinary responsibility--but the clock is running. The journey is never easy, but it is time to inspire the world once again to achieve the near-impossible--to undertake and accomplish big, bold endeavors in space...and when we do, we will make life better here at home and challenge the next generation to go even further.

NASA will never be a caretaker of history--but will forever make history.

Godspeed, President Donald J. Trump, and Godspeed NASA, as America leads the greatest adventure in human history 🇺🇸

[Damien Scott @damienscott]

I agree with @BillGates’s new note, Three Tough Truths about Climate, and hope it marks an inflection point.

Climate doomerism pushes society into a depressing zero-sum dead end, with second-order effects that likely include revolution, conflict, and authoritarianism.

Human flourishing should carry the highest weight in our civilizational objective function.

Energy abundance is the practical path to cleaner air, resilient water, and rising prosperity.

This abundant energy future is indeed subatomic. Where I disagree is on sufficiency: achieving fusion in general will not deliver the promised gains if it lands near $100/MWh in billion-dollar plants that refresh every 20 years. We should be backcasting from the frontier of ultra low cost fusion below $10/MWh and directing science, engineering, and capital to that outcome.

Abandon zero-sum fears for the abundant future we can build.

https://t.co/EqZbRc8pPK

[Damien Scott @damienscott]

Appreciate this, Ian. Those long walks and deep conversations pushed my thinking more than you know. About fusion, technology, and how real progress happens. Grateful for your guidance and friendship.

[Ian McKay @salmon_mckay]

Fusion can be so polarizing.

To some people it’s the obvious next civilizational milestone, limitless energy from seawater, mastering all four forces of nature, our only real hope for travel to deep space etc.

To other people it’s pure hype and a bottomless money hole, the silliest possible way to boil water, energy much more expensive and less powerful than fission which society has rejected already, many billion $ and hundreds of promising careers immolated for a beautiful science idea that’s shown itself over and over as an engineering dead end.

1cFE is the perfect initiative to cut through the confusion and show us what it will take for fusion energy to give us the future we all want. Well grounded in what's been done and not afraid of outside-the-box approaches. Excited for someone as brilliant and grounded as Damien to show us the way!

[Damien Scott @damienscott]

@DanielleFong @elidourado would love to talk about direct generation from PV. dm'd you