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Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California have reached fusion ignition for the 11th time at their world-famous National Ignition Facility, or NIF.

Here’s how it works. NIF uses 192 of the world’s most powerful lasers to focus an enormous burst of energy onto a tiny fuel capsule filled with hydrogen isotopes. For a fraction of a second, the fuel becomes hotter than the center of the Sun, causing the atoms to fuse and release a huge amount of energy.

The latest experiment produced nearly 8 megajoules of fusion energy, continuing a streak of successful ignition experiments that began with the historic breakthrough in December 2022.

But before you think your home will soon be powered by fusion, there’s a catch. While the fusion reaction produces more energy than the laser energy delivered to the fuel pellet, the entire laser system still consumes much more electricity than the reaction generates. So we’re not at commercial fusion power—yet.

Even so, this is a major milestone. Every successful ignition helps scientists improve the technology needed for future fusion power plants.

Fusion promises clean energy with abundant fuel, no carbon emissions during operation, and far less long-lived radioactive waste than today’s nuclear reactors.

The road to fusion electricity is still long, but thanks to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the National Ignition Facility, we’re getting closer to turning the power of the stars into a practical energy source.