NASA needs nuclear power for its lunar base. Here’s the Trump administration’s plan to get it

If the United States ever wants to establish a permanent outpost on the Moon, it will need nuclear power. The White House has just published a roadmap to obtain it by 2028

By Claire Cameron edited by Jeanne Brner

from NASA Artemis II This mission sent four humans to the Moon for the first time in more than half a century. And this is just the beginning. In a speech Tuesday at a space policy event, NASA chief Jared Isaacman said the mission was an “opening act” for a new era of human space exploration and, eventually, a permanently staffed moon base. But for NASA to realize this ambition, the agency will have to nuclear energy— and the White House just laid out a plan on how to get it.

THE planissued April 14, directs NASA, the Pentagon and the Department of Energy to prepare to launch a nuclear system into orbit around the Moon as early as 2028. The new directive follows an executive order issued by President Donald Trump late last year that also outlined plans for nuclear reactors on the Moon.

A nuclear reactor uses fission to produce energy: a nuclear chain reaction splits the atomic nuclei of a particular radioactive element and releases enormous amounts of heat. Such a reactor would be necessary for any extended stay on the Moon because each lunar day and each lunar night lasts approximately 14 Earth days. This means that any lunar base will experience two weeks of darkness followed by two weeks of light, excluding solar power as a reliable and permanent energy source. There are (obviously) no fossil fuels, wind or running water on the moon to produce electricity otherwise, so it’s nuclear.

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The new White House policy directs the Pentagon, NASA and DOE to hold design competitions “to enable the near-term demonstration and use of low- to medium-power space reactors in orbit and on the lunar surface.” Ultimately, the White House wants “high-power reactors” installed on the Moon as early as the next decade.

Under the plan, NASA would begin building a “medium power” space reactor that would generate at least 20 kilowatts of electrical power and could operate on the Moon. The space agency would also work with outside companies to develop smaller reactors with the goal of launching them to the Moon as early as 2030. Eventually, these mini-reactors would be enlarged, the plan says.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has been ordered to brief the White House in 90 days on possible uses and payloads of nuclear systems that could operate in space. According to the plan, it will also support NASA’s work on nuclear reactors and hold its own design competition. The DOE must provide knowledge and expertise in the field of nuclear energy, as well as conduct its own research and development.

The new policy comes about a month after NASA chief Isaacman outlined the space agency’s plans to develop nuclear power for its upcoming missions, including flights to Mars. “Policy clarity on nuclear power and propulsion in space is critical because we want to ensure superiority even beyond the Moon, when we one day get to Mars,” Isaacman said at Tuesday’s event, noting that over the past several decades the agency has spent billions on nuclear power projects that have gone nowhere.

Nevertheless, the space agency’s vision for its lunar base takes shape. NASA has published a “user guide” which defines three phases during which the agency will develop the capabilities, infrastructure and resources necessary for a lunar base. Ultimately, the goal is to make the Moon a launching point for a possible mission to Mars. “The lunar base will allow NASA to develop, test and demonstrate the technologies, capabilities, systems and operational paradigms necessary for future human missions to Mars, “the guide states. “Achieving a continuous presence on the lunar surface will also provide experts with the data necessary to understand the impacts of the missions long-term human health. spaceflight missions on human explorers.