NASA under Trump aims to build nuclear reactor on moon before China and Russia
Washington, DC – June 2: June 2, 2025 at the Washington DC at the entrance of the Mary W. Jackson NASA General Directorate Building. (Photo: Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
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The United States, China and Russia should place a small nuclear power plant on the surface of the moon before it was able to do so, and NASA’s temporary president told the staff of the space agency.
In the first quarter of the 2030 fiscal year, NASA must be ready to launch a reactor at a directive for NASA on July 31 by Sean Duffy, a space -general, who served as the acting manager of the space agency.
China and Russia aim to use a reactor to a common base in the mid -2010s, to strengthen the authorities. Moscow And Beijing he said. The first country to place a reactor in the Moon warned that “the Potentially proclaimed a holding zone that will significantly prevents the United States from establishing an Artemis existence, even if not before,” Duffy warned. The Artemis Mission is NASA’s Moon Discovery Program, which was first described in 2017.
According to Duffy’s directive, NASA must request a proposal to the industry within 60 days. According to the directive, the reactor should be able to generate at least 100 kilowatt electricity. It would be transferred to a heavy class landing ship with 15 metric tons.
A reactor with no 100 kilowatt output can give power to about 80 US home. In contrast, the average nuclear reactor in the US fleet can power more than 700,000 houses.
According to Duffy’s directive, the NASA program, which is called fission surface power, will rely on microorctural technology. However, despite being built in US President Donald Trump, it was not licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which did not allow a number of executive orders to accelerate the commercialization of small nuclear reactors in May.
Duffy’s ambitious directive comes because the Trump administration offers upright interruptions in NASA’s budget. The space agency also remains without a senate approved leader. In May, Trump called Duffy an acting manager after withdrawing his original candidate in the middle of a case with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
Politico first reported Duffy’s plans to launch a nuclear reactor to the moon.
