The Trump administration is racing to deploy a powerful nuclear reactor on the moon by 2030 — a high-stakes project that could redefine the future of lunar exploration and space-based national security.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who is also serving as acting NASA Administrator, issued an internal directive this week calling for the space agency to fast-track its long-discussed plan to install a nuclear fission reactor on the lunar surface. The memo lays out an aggressive timeline and a dramatic escalation in power output — more than doubling the original design’s capacity.

“To properly advance this critical technology to support a future lunar economy, power exploration on Mars, and strengthen our national security in space, it is imperative the agency move quickly,” Duffy wrote.

NASA has long explored nuclear surface power as a way to sustain long-term missions in deep space. But the new plan marks a dramatic acceleration of that vision, calling for a 100-kilowatt reactor (enough to power a small neighborhood) to be ready for launch within the next five years. By comparison, NASA’s 2022 “Fission Surface Power Project” had only envisioned a 40-kilowatt unit.

Duffy’s move comes amid growing concerns that rival powers — particularly China and Russia — could outpace the U.S. in establishing permanent footholds on the moon. “If another country were to build a reactor on the moon first,” the memo warns, “it could declare a keep-out zone which would significantly inhibit the United States.”

The directive, first reported by Politico, gives NASA 60 days to appoint a project leader and solicit input from private industry, including launch and reactor technology providers. The administration is also seeking proposals from commercial spaceflight companies capable of delivering the reactor to the moon’s surface by 2030, the same year China is aiming to land a manned mission on the moon.

The policy move comes just weeks after President Trump abruptly withdrew his nomination of billionaire space entrepreneur Jared Isaacman — a close ally of Elon Musk — to head NASA. Trump instead tapped Duffy, a former congressman and Fox News contributor, to helm the agency on an interim basis.

The reversal reportedly followed a review of Isaacman’s political contributions, which included over $41,000 to Democratic causes in late 2024.

Since assuming the interim role, Duffy has laid out a sweeping vision for NASA’s future under Trump’s second term: orbit the moon by early next year, land a crew on the surface a year later, and build a permanent lunar base shortly thereafter.

“We’re going to stay on the moon,” Duffy said last month in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity. “And what we learn on the moon is what’s going to take us to Mars.”

The nuclear reactor is expected to be central to that ambition. Designed to operate independently of sunlight and harsh lunar conditions, the power system would provide a steady energy supply for habitat modules, scientific labs, and eventually launch facilities for Mars-bound missions.

Critics have raised questions about the safety and international ramifications of nuclear power on the moon, but Duffy’s memo signals a readiness to move forward regardless.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)