The US White House is urging NASA and the Department of War (DOW – formerly Department of Defense) to initiate design plans for reactors for lunar orbit and establishment on the lunar surface. Michael Kratsios, Director of the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP), released a memo announcing the establishment of the National Initiative for American Space Nuclear Power (NIASNP), a NASA-led effort to coordinate reactor plans from all federal agencies.
Kratsios, who announced the policy in a speech at the 41st Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, said President Donald Trump had endorsed the plan. It is in line with his Executive Order (EO) 14369 signed in December 2025, Ensuring American Space Superiority. The EO provided the strategic framework for establishing the NIASNP to deploy reactors on the Moon and in orbit by 2030. It mandates a return to the lunar surface by 2028 and the construction of a permanent outpost by 2030.
The EO also revoked EO 14056, effectively dismantling the National Space Council and transferring its policy coordination duties to OSTP. This current initiative builds upon earlier groundwork laid during President Trump’s first term. The Space Policy Directive-6 (SPD-6) issued in December 2020 established the first national strategy for the responsible development of space nuclear power and propulsion (SNPP). Executive Order 13972 signed in January 2021, promoted the use of small modular reactors (SMRs) for national defence and space exploration.
According to Kratsios, under the new policy, the agencies are directed to establish cost-effective private partnerships to safely deploy nuclear reactors in orbit and on the Moon. “Nuclear power in space will give us the sustained electricity, heating and propulsion essential to a permanent robotic and eventually human presence on the moon, on Mars and beyond,” he said.
The six-page policy, designated NSTM-3, directs “parallel and mutually reinforcing” design competitions by NASA and DOW “to enable near-term demonstration and use of low- to mid-power space reactors in orbit and on the lunar surface, and prepare to deploy high-power reactors in the 2030s”
“For this to work, it has to be a collaboration between multiple government agencies,” Kratsios said. “That’s the way that we do the right R&D and get the right tools in place for these events to unfold over the next few years.”
Under the new policy, NASA is directed to start work within 30 days on a “mid-power” space reactor generating at least 20 kW, with a variant that can operate on the lunar surface. It calls on NASA to work with multiple companies on reactor designs, including for a low-power system that produces as little as one kilowatt “if doing so offers lower cost and schedule risk”.
NASA is to pick no more than two designs in one year for development, with a preference toward systems that can be later scaled up to 100 kW or more. The goal is to start orbiting reactors in space by 2028, with a lunar surface version ready by 2030.
The Department of Energy (DOE) will provide its expertise in nuclear power systems, including a 60-day assessment of the readiness of the nuclear industrial base. It would also conduct “cross-cutting and mission-independent” research and development of space nuclear power technologies.
Key to the new strategy, according to the memo, is that NASA and DOW should “conduct parallel and mutually reinforcing … design competitions” that can pave the way to demonstrations and eventual fielding of “low- to mid-power space reactors in orbit and on the lunar surface.” The two agencies will also work towards deploying high-power reactors in the 2030s.
While NASA is assigned responsibilities such as initiating the development of a “mid-power space reactor with a lunar fission surface power (FSP) variant ready for launch by 2030,” the Pentagon “pending availability of funding,” will “pursue deployment of a mission-enabling mid-power in-space reactor by 2031”.
DOW is instructed to provide a briefing to the White House in 90 days on potential uses and payloads for space nuclear systems of varying power levels. The Pentagon will, in the first year “contribute its available space nuclear funding” for NASA efforts that could “enable” future Pentagon missions. Beginning in the second year, DOW would then be directed to carry “at least two competing vendors” through “at least preliminary design review and ground tests” for the future mid-power orbital reactor.
The memo encourages the DOW to collect proposals from vendors already working with NASA on related technologies and states that the Pentagon “should have the option” to select any qualified vendors from NASA programmes for fission surface power or nuclear electric power if DOW programme participants “fail to meet appropriate programmatic and technical milestones”.
The memo explicitly lists several tools for programme managers, including firm fixed-price contracts, vendor proposals for milestones and the establishment of government use rights. OSTP is expected to develop a “roadmap” for the overarching space strategy within 90 days, which will address potential “obstacles” and ways to overcome them.
NASA announced in March that it had begun work on nuclear power technologies including the Space Reactor (SR) 1 Freedom mission. SR-1 Freedom is intended to demonstrate nuclear electric propulsion using a 20 kW reactor and an electric propulsion system originally developed for the Gateway – a modular space station that was being developed to orbit the Moon.
Gateway was originally designed to serve as a long-term “staging post” for the Artemis programme, providing a place for astronauts to live and dock their spacecraft before descending to the lunar surface. However, NASA has drastically overhauled this plan. Instead of completing the full space station in lunar orbit, NASA is now repurposing (or cannibalising) the primary hardware built for Gateway to support the new Ignition programme and the SR-1 Freedom mission.
The Power and Propulsion Element was originally the “engine room” of the Gateway station, designed to use massive solar arrays to power electric thrusters for orbital maintenance. Under the new plan, the PPE core module is being converted into the vehicle for the SR-1 Freedom mission. Rather than relying solely on solar power, it will now be integrated with the 20 kW nuclear fission reactor to demonstrate Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP). Instead of staying in lunar orbit, this modified “nuclear PPE” is slated to launch by the end of 2028 on an interplanetary mission to Mars.
The new Ignition programme is a comprehensive NASA initiative launched in March 2026 designed to accelerate American space exploration and establish clear dominance in the lunar and interplanetary domain. The initiative was unveiled by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman as a direct response to EO 14369 It represents a major shift in NASA’s operational philosophy, away from long-term, static projects like the Gateway station towards high-tempo, modular missions focused on permanent lunar habitation and nuclear-powered Mars transit.
The programme is built around three primary strategic shifts:
- Space Nuclear Dominance: The central “ignition” point of the strategy is the rapid deployment of nuclear fission. This includes the SR-1 Freedom mission (launching December 2028) to test NEP and the development of Lunar Reactor-1 (LR-1) for a permanent Moon base by 2030.
- Three-Phase Lunar Base Buildout: Ignition replaces the singular goal of “returning to the Moon” with a tiered construction plan: Phase 1 (Robotic) – deploying power (nuclear/solar) and communications infrastructure; Phase 2 (Semi-Habitable) – delivering logistics and initial habitats; Phase 3 (Continuous Presence) – establishing heavy infrastructure for a permanent, commercially-supported human colony.
- Commercial and International Realignment: The strategy emphasises “Science as a Service” and pushes for a transition where NASA acts as a customer for commercial transportation providers rather than owning every aspect of the mission.
It is designed to overcome the historical gap between technical concepts and actual flight hardware, with a specific focus on meeting deadlines measured in months rather than years. By shifting focus from an orbiting station to direct lunar landings and nuclear propulsion, NASA aims to accelerate its timeline for a permanent Moon Base by 2032 and eventual human missions to Mars.
“SR-1 Freedom will establish flight heritage for nuclear hardware, set regulatory and launch precedent and activate the industrial base for future fission power systems across propulsion, surface operations and other long-duration missions,” said Isaacman at the 41st Space Symposium.
He noted that NASA has spent more than $20bn on various nuclear power and propulsion projects over the last several decades, none of which flew. The new policy is intended to reverse that long-running trend. “We’re taking it out of the lab,” he said, drawing on lessons from the early development of nuclear reactors for naval vessels. “We’re not trying to nail the 100% solution.”
The new strategy comes amid a burgeoning space race. American officials hope they can keep ahead of adversaries such as China and Russia which also have a space and lunar programme, including the establishment of a moon base.
