OpenStar Junior: A high-field REBCO levitated dipole experiment

Inspired by a seminal proposal by Akira Hasegawa, the Levitated Dipole eXperiment (LDX) pioneered research into high beta plasmas confined by a levitated super conducting current ring and stabilized by compressibility. The work done in the LDX experiment started levitated dipoles on the path towards a viable nuclear fusion reactor. The LDX experiment relied on low temperature superconductor (LTS) technology and inductive charging with no option to recharge the magnet during levitation. OpenStar Technologies is a New Zealand based startup with roots in the high temperature superconductor (HTS) lab at the Robinson Research Institute. OpenStar has manufactured and is commissioning a new generation of levitated dipole devices leveraging the advances made in HTS magnet technologies and their power supplies which have been made in the time since the last experiments of LDX. Openstar's first experiment called "Junior" aims to replicate the results of LDX in a 5.2 m vacuum chamber with a modest ECRF power < 50 kW. Importantly, this experiment integrates the HTS power supply technology on board the dipole magnet, paving the way toward larger, commercial, fusion scale magnets.