SPARC
SPARC is a tokamak fusion device run by Commonwealth Fusion Systems in United States. It is under construction. Like every fusion device built so far, it has produced no net electricity.
About 75% complete at Devens, Massachusetts, with the first toroidal field magnet installed in February 2026. First plasma targeted for 2027.
The most-watched private fusion project. Its bet is high-temperature superconducting magnets, which allow far stronger fields and therefore a much smaller machine than ITER for comparable performance. SPARC aims for a similar energy gain in roughly one-sixtieth the volume. If it reaches Q > 10 it will be the first device to demonstrate net plasma energy gain in a tokamak.
| Organisation | Commonwealth Fusion Systems |
|---|---|
| Approach | tokamak |
| Confinement | magnetic |
| Country | United States |
| Status | Under construction |
| First plasma | not yet |
| Target date | 2027 |
|---|---|
| Power target | 100MW |
| Energy gain target | Q > 10 |
| Net electricity | No. no fusion device has produced any |
Other tokamak projects
Fusion needs tritium, and the world's civilian stock comes mostly from CANDU fission reactors. See the fusion overview.
SPARC in context
14 of the 24 fusion projects on record use the tokamak approach: 7 operating, 3 under construction, 3 planned and 1 closed.
It lists a target date of 2027, 1 year from now; of the 7 projects that list one, none lists an earlier year. A target date is the project's own aim, not a forecast.
Its stated fusion power target is 100 MW, 5th of the 6 projects that state one (median 300 MW).
| Measure | SPARC | Median of all projects | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Target date | 2027 | 2028 | 1 of 7 (earliest first) |
| Fusion power target (MW) | 100 | 300 | 5 of 6 |
Worked out from the entries on this site only, so a figure compares SPARC with what is recorded here, not with everything that exists. An entry with no value for a measure is left out of that measure's ranking and median.
Sources
- Commonwealth Fusion Systems and World Nuclear Association · retrieved 2026-09-07
How these sources are used, including the corrections applied on top of them and what is deliberately left blank · download the underlying data