The White House released a directive Wednesday posing high-level policy goals and explicit directions for multiple federal agencies to drive the development of space-based nuclear systems and technologies.
Space Policy Directive 6, titled the “National Strategy for Space Nuclear Power and Propulsion” and deemed SPD-6 for short, sets a strategic roadmap for several ambitious aims—including to demonstrate a fission power system on the surface of the moon by the mid- to late- 2020s. Those systems operate by splitting uranium atoms inside nuclear reactors, to generate heat that’s converted to electricity.
In journeys into space environments too harsh for more common power sources—or so deep that it’s too dark for solar power or too far to bring much fuel—space nuclear systems can offer a useful means to power spacecraft. They include radioisotope power systems and nuclear reactors for power generation and propulsion.
Though NASA for decades has leaned on certain nuclear generators to power explorations distantly into the solar system, so far, space nuclear propulsion systems haven’t been launched to transcend Earth. But on a call with reporters Wednesday, senior administration officials said space nuclear power and propulsion, or SNPP systems “are fundamentally enabling technologies” for creating a sustainable presence on the moon as intended through NASA’s Artemis missions, and eventually, enabling deeper space missions to Mars and beyond.
“Nuclear power in a variety of ways is going to be important for the moon. As ..
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