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A memo released by the Trump administration on Tuesday detailed a goal of having a nuclear reactor on the Moon’s surface by 2030, a move that furthers the United States’ quest for supremacy in space over China and Russia.
In the six-page document, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy wrote that incorporating nuclear energy in space will be essential to advancing U.S. efforts in “space exploration, commerce, and defense applications.”
“Nuclear power in space will give us the sustained electricity, heating, and propulsion essential to a permanent presence on the Moon, Mars, and beyond,” the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy wrote on X.
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Earth sets at 6:41 p.m. EDT, April 6, 2026, over the Moon’s curved limb in this photo captured by the Artemis II crew during their journey around the far side of the Moon. (NASA)
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman celebrated the memo, which outlined how nuclear reactors will be crucial for eventual deep-space exploration to Mars.
“The time has come for America to get underway on nuclear power in space,” Isaacman wrote on X.
The memo cited President Donald Trump’s December 2025 executive order titled “Ensuring American Space Superiority.”
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Lin Xiqiang, Deputy Director of the Chinese Manned Space Agency, center, speaks during a press conference at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Monday, May 29, 2023. China’s space program plans to land astronauts on the moon before 2030, a top official with the country’s space program said Monday. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)
It was signed just months after then-acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy said on “Sean Hannity” that he wanted the U.S. to build a nuclear reactor on the moon before China does.
Last May, China and Russia agreed to work together to build a nuclear reactor on the Moon’s surface by 2036.
The Department of War, Department of Energy, NASA and the Office of Science and Technology Policy have all been tasked with meeting the White House’s goals of deploying nuclear reactors on the Moon’s surface and in the Moon’s orbit.
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The memo outlines the Trump administration’s plan to deploy mid-power nuclear reactors in the Moon’s orbit by 2028. Each nuclear power reactor will be designed to provide 20 kilowatts of energy, roughly the same amount used by an average American household.
NASA’s Artemis II moon rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-B Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (John Raoux/AP Photo)
The reactors will be designed to generate power for at least three years in orbit, and lunar surface-based nuclear reactors will provide energy for at least five years.
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The memo’s publication comes just two weeks after NASA launched Artemis II, the first lunar flyby in more than 50 years. The mission was designed to test the Orion spacecraft’s deep-space navigation, manual piloting capabilities, and life support systems.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and NASA for comment.