International Report: Nasa plans nuclear reactor on the moon
According to a media report, the US space agency Nasa is planning to build a nuclear reactor on the surface of the moon. According to internal documents obtained by the US news site "Politico", the space agency is to obtain concrete proposals from industry within 60 days for a 100-kilowatt reactor, which is to go into operation by 2030. Nasa boss Sean Duffy is expected to announce the plans in the coming days.
05.08.2025, 09:47
SDA
The background to this is the growing competition with China. The second-largest economy is planning its first manned mission to the moon around the same time. The Nasa paper warns that the first nation with a functioning reactor on the moon could declare an "exclusion zone" - with considerable disadvantages for the USA.
In fact, the idea of a nuclear reactor on the moon is not a new one: Russia had already floated the idea many years ago, and Nasa has also recently been researching it. Such a power plant could provide the stable power supply needed for future moon missions if solar energy cannot be generated during the two-week dark phase between sunset and sunrise.
The USA wants to return to the moon after more than 50 years: the "Artemis" program aims to land astronauts on Earth's satellite again for the first time in 2027. However, the timetable has already been postponed several times and it is unclear whether US President Donald Trump will stick to it.
