# From Advice to Action on Space Nuclear Power  ## Metadata - Author: [email protected] (Jeff Foust) - Full Title: From Advice to Action on Space Nuclear Power - Category: #articles - Summary: NASA plans to build a 100-kilowatt nuclear reactor on the Moon by 2030 using public-private partnerships. This move follows a report urging rapid development of space nuclear power to support lunar missions and compete with China and Russia. Funding and technical challenges remain, but NASA aims to buy power rather than the reactor itself, encouraging commercial involvement. - URL: https://www.thespacereview.com/article/5065/1 ## Highlights - “We are in a race with China to the Moon, and to have a base on the moon we need energy,” he said at an event at the Department of Transportation in early August. “We’ve spent hundreds of millions of dollars studying if can we do it. We are now going to move beyond studying and we’ve given direction to start deploying our technology to actually make this a reality.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01k645npwhh5zd6pm3r2k611pa)) - Gilbert said that the new effort should be able to leverage other advances in nuclear power technology, like work on small modular reactors for terrestrial applications. “Until about five years ago, the United States did not have a competitive nuclear industry,” he said. “We did not have a lot of innovation going on. That has changed decisively.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01k645rnnkw12m95vq76778wp3)) - In late August, NASA released [a draft solicitation](https://sam.gov/workspace/contract/opp/e33becf3872a473dbeea39d446baf397/view), formally known as an Announcement for Partnership Proposals (AFPP), outlining its plans for the Fission Surface Power program. It retained the key elements in the directive, including the goal of a 100-kilowatt reactor on the Moon by 2030. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01k645s7nymbbdtqf0xx0bs95m)) - NASA said it is considering instead handling the delivery of the reactor to the Moon, using cargo versions of Human Landing System (HLS) reactors from Blue Origin and SpaceX. “Will removing the financial burden of acquiring launch and landing services be beneficial to your business case?” NASA asked industry. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01k645v01wwnsk42rmjqdnztpd)) - Sean Duffy, signed a policy directive putting into motion a new space nuclear power program at the agency, calling for the development a 100-kilowatt nuclear reactor on the Moon by 2030. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01k645mkaymb5abnqhrrp3jxv4))