NASA is going to build a nuclear reactor on the moon, according to reports from US media and further reporting from other news outlets including the BBC.
It is part of the Trump administration’s ambitions to build a permanent base for astronauts and ensure longer-term stays. It aims to beat out other competing countries including Russia and China, who have announced their plans to build an automated nuclear power station on the moon by 2035, to power the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) both countries revealed they were planning to build in 2021.
The 2026 budget plan released in May 2025 by the Trump administration set out more than $7 billion for lunar exploration of both the moon and Mars, but also referred to refocusing resources towards “high-priority research”, according to an announcement put out by NASA at the time. The US have already announced cuts of 24% to NASA’s budgets in 2026.
NASA’s acting administrator and Secretary of the Department of Transportation, Sean Duffy, has instructed the agency to develop a 100kW nuclear reactor on the moon ready to launch by 2029. Although the space agency has already been working on launching a system, these latest plans represent a more clearly defined timeline.
In 2022, for example, NASA and the US Department of Energy awarded three Phase 1 contracts, at roughly $5 million each, to Lockheed Martin, Westinghouse, and IX to design 40kW class fission reactor concepts for lunar deployment.
In a directive that was first reported by Politico, Duffy wrote: “To properly advance this critical technology to be able to support a future lunar economy, high power energy generation on Mars, and to strengthen our national security in space, it is imperative the agency move quickly.”
The directive also called for the appointment of a NASA official to oversee these plans. It has not been confirmed what the nuclear reactor on the moon will power.
