NASA says nuclear-powered Mars spacecraft could launch by 2028
NASA says it could launch a nuclear‑powered spacecraft to Mars before the end of 2028, outlining an uncrewed mission that would test advanced propulsion technology and send helicopters to scout the planet from the air. The revelation was tucked into a broader Tuesday, March 24 announcement about plans for a long-term moon base.
The mission, which NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman referred to as Space Reactor‑1 Freedom (SR‑1 Freedom), would demonstrate "advanced nuclear electric propulsion in deep space," the agency said in a press release.
NASA described the technology as providing "an extraordinary capability for efficient mass transport in deep space and [enabling] high power missions beyond Jupiter where solar arrays are not effective." NASA said the Mars venture is inextricably linked to its Artemis campaign to return Americans to the lunar surface ahead of the first human expeditions to Mars.
Artemis 2, the first crewed flight of the program, is planned as a lunar flyby rather than a landing. The four-person mission, launching from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, is intended to pave the way for astronauts to reach the surface as early as 2028. Once SR‑1 Freedom reaches Mars, NASA said it would assume objectives of a previously proposed mission called Skyfall, deploying helicopters modeled on the success of Ingenuity.
The 4‑pound aircraft made history as the first powered, controlled flight on another planet, completing 72 sorties over nearly three years before crashing in January 2024 and damaging a rotor blade, which rendered it unable to fly again. NASA believes the nuclear fission power systems demonstrated in reaching Mars could set a standard for future propulsion, surface operations and other long‑term spaceflight missions.
The agency announced in August its intention to place a nuclear reactor on the moon within the next decade to power a base during the lunar night — a period equal to about 14 Earth days without sunlight — and said data from SR‑1 Freedom could inform those plans.