On April 2, 2026, Realta Fusion and Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) announced a long-term strategic partnership for the design and manufacturing of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets that Realta will use to accelerate the commercialization of its compact, scalable, modular CoSMo fusion™ energy systems.
CFS will develop magnets for Realta's demonstration prototypes as well as its commercial fusion power plants under the agreement, which has the potential to reach a multi-billion dollar value. The partnership also includes talent-sharing of CFS expertise to support the design, manufacturing, deployment, and operation of HTS magnets for magnetic mirror fusion systems.
This partnership formalizes a relationship between Realta and CFS that dates back to 2020, when ARPA-E funded the University of Wisconsin-Madison to build the Wisconsin HTS Axisymmetric Mirror (WHAM) experiment. Realta spun out of the WHAM initiative in 2022, and CFS provided WHAM with the HTS magnets used to confine its first plasma at a world-record magnetic field strength of 17 tesla in 2024.
Realta's magnetic mirror approach involves a linear fusion machine that confines plasma within a long cylinder between sets of powerful magnets on either end, with weaker magnets encircling the center part of the cylinder. To scale the machine, only the center section expands, and because those magnets are less powerful, they are cheaper, with costs expected to fall as the size of the power plant increases.
CFS views this partnership as additive to its existing tokamak-based ARC fusion power plant program and has positioned HTS magnet manufacturing as a platform business, with the Realta arrangement seen as having potential to generate future revenue as Realta's program develops.
Realta is backed by Khosla Ventures and Future Ventures and is one of eight companies selected for the U.S. Department of Energy's Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program. The company operates WHAM, a working experimental fusion machine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Physical Sciences Laboratory.
This is not the first time CFS has licensed or supplied HTS technology to other fusion developers. In February 2025, CFS and Type One Energy announced an agreement giving Type One Energy an exclusive license to use CFS's HTS cable technology for the development of its stellarator fusion magnets. Commonwealth Fusion Systems deal with Realta differs in that CFS will directly manufacture the magnets rather than license the underlying technology.
Realta aims to have its commercial fusion plants operating by the mid-2030s.