NASA Maps $2 Billion Nuclear Mars Mission Through 2029, Targeting 2028 Launch
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Jul 21
NASA Maps $2 Billion Nuclear Mars Mission Through 2029, Targeting 2028 Launch
1 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Jul 21
Summary
$2.1 billion in planned spending through 2029 was disclosed in a document NASA sent to Congress, with $640 million in 2026 and a peak $890 million in 2027.
The funding would come from NASA’s exploration account and money from last year’s reconciliation bill, filling in details after the agency’s fiscal 2027 budget request omitted the mission.
The late-2028 mission would be the first flight demonstration of nuclear electric propulsion and is designed to deliver three helicopters to Mars to gather data and look for potential water sources.
NASA plans to hold down development time by repurposing the canceled Gateway program’s Power and Propulsion Element, while the Department of Energy helps design and assemble the reactor.
SkyFall—the science payload the spacecraft will carry—still has no public cost estimate, and Mars researchers have warned it could squeeze NASA’s science budget.
With its science payload unfunded, will NASA's nuclear Mars mission be forced to sacrifice discovery for speed?
Is repurposing a lunar station's core for a nuclear Mars mission a brilliant cost-saving move or a high-stakes gamble?
How will three advanced helicopters land themselves on Mars after being released mid-air from their heat shield?
SR-1 Freedom: Pioneering Nuclear Electric Propulsion for Mars and Lunar Exploration in the 2030s
Overview
NASA is set to launch the SR-1 Freedom mission in late 2028, marking a pivotal moment in deep space exploration. As humanity’s first fission-powered interplanetary spacecraft, SR-1 Freedom will demonstrate Nuclear Electric Propulsion by delivering the SkyFall payload to Mars. This mission is the result of decades of study and a response to National Space Policy, representing a major leap from laboratory research to practical space applications. SR-1 Freedom is envisioned as a foundational step, serving as a pathfinder design for future lunar surface power systems and advancing the use of nuclear power in space.