Overview
- NASA plans to solicit industry proposals within 60 days for a 100-kilowatt nuclear reactor to power lunar surface operations by 2030.
- Interim NASA Administrator Sean Duffy is expected to formally announce the accelerated reactor initiative imminently.
- The reactor aims to provide continuous electricity through the two-week lunar night, overcoming solar panel limitations.
- The decision reflects strategic competition with China, which intends to launch its first crewed Moon mission around 2030.
- An internal NASA paper warns that the first nation to deploy a lunar reactor could declare a keep-out zone, challenging existing space governance.