Despite budgetary and personnel reductions enacted by the Trump administration, NASA is progressing with its plans to establish a nuclear reactor on the moon, as indicated by Politico. Transportation Secretary and Interim NASA Administrator Sean Duffy is anticipated to unveil the initiative, which aims for a 100-kilowatt nuclear reactor to be operational by 2030. This urgency is partly driven by competition from China and Russia, as China intends to conduct a crewed lunar mission in 2030, and both nations are considering collaborating on a lunar nuclear reactor project.

NASA is apprehensive that if another nation acquires nuclear capabilities on the moon, it could obstruct U.S. lunar aims. With lunar nights extending for two weeks, nuclear energy presents an alternative to solar power, facilitating permanent or semi-permanent lunar installations and missions. Certain lunar areas remain in constant shadow, complicating solar-based missions; however, nuclear energy could enhance human access to more regions of the moon.

The specific method for constructing the reactor remains uncertain, although Newsweek speculates it may utilize uranium fuel and be installed beneath the lunar surface to shield astronauts from radiation.

NASA is also looking to replace the aging International Space Station by 2030, potentially collaborating with corporate partners such as Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin. The ISS is slated to be decommissioned and safely disposed of in the ocean by that time; without a new station, China would operate the only permanently crewed space station.

Under Trump and Duffy, NASA is prioritizing human spaceflight initiatives, including missions to Mars, while decreasing its focus on scientific endeavors.