The Trump administration has set an ambitious target to place a nuclear reactor in orbit around the moon by 2028, as part of a sweeping push to establish a permanent human and robotic presence in space. A directive issued on 14 April tasks NASA, the Pentagon, and the Department of Energy with jointly developing the necessary nuclear systems and having them launch-ready within the next three years.
A New Vision for Space Power
The April mandate represents a significant evolution from an earlier Trump-era proposal that called for installing a nuclear reactor on the lunar surface. The updated plan goes further, outlining a strategy for both orbital and surface-based nuclear power systems, with an eye toward deploying high-power reactors in the 2030s.
According to reporting by Interesting Engineering, the White House strategy involves running parallel design competitions between NASA and the Department of War to fast-track low- to mid-power fission reactor models. Competing designs will vie to demonstrate viability in the near term, before the programme scales up to more powerful configurations later in the decade.
Why Nuclear — and Why Now
Space engineers and policymakers broadly agree that nuclear fission is the only practical energy source for sustained operations on or near the moon. Lunar nights last the equivalent of 14 Earth days, ruling out solar power. The moon has no wind, no flowing water, and no accessible fossil fuels, leaving nuclear as the sole viable option for generating reliable electricity, heat, and propulsion.
The preferred technology is fission powered by high-assay, low-enriched uranium — a modern approach far removed from the early experiments of the Space Race era. The United States launched a nuclear reactor into orbit as far back as 1965, and the Soviet Union pursued similar programmes. Both, however, released radioactive materials into the atmosphere and on Earth, and public backlash eventually led to the abandonment of those efforts.
Tyler Bernstein, chief executive of nuclear battery startup Zeno Power, framed the renewed push in geopolitical terms.
"With great power competition rising, the ocean floor, Arctic, and lunar surface are becoming the front lines of global security and economic progress — but they remain energy deserts."
Confidence at the Top
Senior administration officials have been vocal about their belief that the current generation of nuclear technology can succeed where previous efforts fell short. Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, addressed the issue directly at the Space Symposium.
"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."
The announcement comes shortly after NASA confirmed that its latest crewed lunar mission — described by the agency as the "opening act" of a new era of exploration — had successfully sent humans to the moon for the first time this century. A permanent lunar base is now among the agency's stated long-term goals.
A Chequered History, A Renewed Push
Despite decades of investment, NASA's track record on space-based nuclear power has been mixed. Scientific American has reported that the agency spent billions on nuclear power projects over recent decades without producing operational results. Nevertheless, rising public support for nuclear energy more broadly, combined with renewed political will in Washington and growing private-sector interest, has breathed fresh momentum into the programme.
Whether the 2028 deadline proves achievable remains to be seen, but the White House has made clear that space energy infrastructure is now a core element of its strategy for asserting American leadership beyond Earth's atmosphere.
