(Zero Hedge)—NASA and the Department of Energy signed a new space nuclear agreement Thursday, putting another piece of Washington’s reactor ambitions on paper while private developers race to meet some of the near-term goals.
The nuclear energy renaissance story has been increasingly linked to the buildout of data centers for AI. NASA is reminding folks that ChatGPT is not the only customer for fission.
Signed by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and Energy Secretary Chris Wright, the MOU, “Accelerating American Leadership in Space Nuclear Power and Propulsion,” takes effect November 1st. The MOU covers all aspects of getting nuclear energy off the ground, including research, testing, launch integration, and fuel production.
This newer version of the Space Nuclear Power agreement replaces the previous MOU between NASA and the DOE, which reaches its 10-year expiration at the end of October.
Most of the MOU should not be news to our readers, though. The agreement signed this week is more of a collection of the previous agreements announced in January and March of this year.
The MOU covers three programs:
- Space Reactor-1 Freedom, a fission-powered spacecraft that will demonstrate nuclear electric propulsion, slated to launch toward Mars in 2028
- Lunar Reactor-1, the fission surface power system meant to keep the lights on at NASA’s planned Moon Base, with a launch-ready unit due by 2030 under the December 2025 executive order “Ensuring American Space Superiority.”
- DOE will keep supplying radioisotope power and heater units for missions such as Dragonfly, which heads to Saturn’s moon Titan in 2028
“Adm. Hyman Rickover understood that nuclear power would fundamentally change what was possible at sea,” Isaacman said, per Payload. “SR-1 Freedom is our Nautilus, and she will launch in 2028.”
January saw the original announcement of the goal for reactors on the moon by 2030. By March, Isaacman was announcing NASA’s ambitions for nuclear-powered Mars spacecraft and goals for getting a reactor in the air by 2028.
March also included one of the first price tag estimates we got for the program, with NASA claiming the reactor on the moon could cost approximately $20 billion over the next 7 years to develop and deploy.
Nuclear’s position as the leading source of energy production in space is almost without competition or disagreement. While there is a time and a place for solar production, certain locations on the Moon, and both the travel and operations on Mars, will unquestionably require the resilience only offered by nuclear reactors.
The Space Force is also pursuing its own nuclear and space applications. Last month, Antares announced a $161 million Strategic Breakthrough award. The assignment is to demonstrate the company’s R1-S reactor on the ground and integrate it with a spacecraft for flight certification.
Antares also plans to use its electricity-producing Mark-1 reactor to power an operational ground-to-space asset, with testing scheduled for 2027. That follows Mark-0’s June criticality demonstration under DOE authorization.
The space variant is adapted from Antares’ terrestrial R1 architecture. The company told Nuclear News its first version targets at least 35 kilowatts of electrical output, using different materials, shielding and heat-rejection arrangements for space.
Not to be outdone by a group of startups, Lockheed Martin is leaning into the same opportunity.
In our January coverage of the initial NASA nuclear announcement, we covered how Lockheed Martin was one of the companies originally involved in the reactor-on-the-moon projects from 2022. It looks like their ambition to stay relevant is still going strong.
Lockheed also participated in an investment round with Radiant Nuclear earlier this year. Radiant is developing a transportable gas-cooled microreactor that may be developed for extraterrestrial applications.
The nuclear trade is bigger than the next hyperscaler power deal. Space and defense are already generating contracts for nuclear companies and equipment suppliers.
