Overview

• Acting administrator Sean Duffy ordered NASA to solicit designs for a 100 kW fission reactor aimed at powering lunar habitats and infrastructure.
• The agency must award at least two contracts within six months to develop commercially operated stations that will succeed the International Space Station.
• Senior officials warn that the first nation to deploy a lunar reactor could declare a “keep-out zone,” potentially blocking US access to key regions.
• This push builds on NASA’s 2022 Fission Surface Power Project, which funded 40 kW reactor concepts for early-2030s demonstration.
• The initiative reflects a policy shift prioritizing crewed exploration as the White House proposes boosting human spaceflight funding by $647 million while cutting science programs by nearly half.