IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — NASA officials say they are confident in plans to launch a nuclear electric propulsion demonstration mission by the end of 2028 after visiting the national lab building the mission’s reactor.
NASA leadership, including Administrator Jared Isaacman and Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya, visited the Idaho National Laboratory, or INL, on Aug. 7 to review work being done on nuclear reactors there. That includes designs developed by the lab itself as well as several companies that are using INL to test small nuclear reactors, some with potential space applications.
INL is responsible for the reactor that will be used on Space Reactor 1 Freedom, a mission NASA announced at its Ignition event in March. SR-1 Freedom, slated for launch in late 2028, will use a 20-kilowatt-electric nuclear reactor to power an electric propulsion system originally developed for the lunar Gateway. That will propel the spacecraft to Mars, where it will deploy SkyFall, a set of helicopters modeled on the Ingenuity rotorcraft that accompanied the Perseverance Mars rover.
SR-1 Freedom is intended to be a precursor for future space nuclear power and propulsion systems, Isaacman said in remarks after the tour, drawing comparisons to the USS Nautilus, a U.S. Navy submarine that was the first nuclear-powered vessel.
