Overview

• Interim NASA Administrator Sean Duffy has ordered industry to submit reactor designs within 60 days to meet a 2030 deployment goal.
• The directive raises the power target from 40 kilowatts to 100 kilowatts, pulling forward the timeline by several years.
• A moon-based nuclear reactor promises continuous electricity through the 14-day lunar night and in permanently shadowed craters where solar panels fall short.
• ESA project manager Markus Landgraf says a 100-kilowatt reactor is realistic given prior research but warns that cooling systems, fissile-material transport and remote operation pose big challenges.
• China and Russia’s International Lunar Research Station partnership still aims for a 2035 reactor but confronts delays from technical hurdles and geopolitical pressures.