Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will announce expedited plans this week to build a nuclear reactor on the moon, the first major action by the former Fox News host as the interim NASA administrator.
NASA has discussed building a reactor on the lunar surface, but this would set a more definitive timeline — according to documents obtained by POLITICO — and come just as the agency faces a massive budget cut. The move also underscores how Duffy, who faced pushback from lawmakers about handling two jobs, wants to play a role in NASA policymaking.
“It is about winning the second space race,” said a NASA senior official, granted anonymity to discuss the documents ahead of their wider release.
President Donald Trump named Duffy as interim administrator in July after abruptly withdrawing the nomination of billionaire Jared Isaacman amid a spat with the nominee’s ally, Elon Musk.
Duffy also offered a directive to more quickly replace the International Space Station, another NASA goal. The two moves could help accelerate U.S. efforts to reach the moon and Mars — a goal that China is also pursuing.
The plans align with the Trump administration’s focus on crewed spaceflight. The White House has proposed a budget that would increase human spaceflight funds for 2026, even as it advocates for major slashes to other programs — including a nearly 50 percent cut for science missions.
The reactor directive orders the agency to solicit industry proposals for a 100 kilowatt nuclear reactor to launch by 2030, a key consideration for astronauts’ return to the lunar surface. NASA previously funded research into a 40 kilowatt reactor for use on the moon, with plans to have a reactor ready for launch by the early 2030s.
The first country to have a reactor could “declare a keep-out zone which would significantly inhibit the United States,” the directive states, a sign of the agency’s concern about a joint project China and Russia have launched.
The directive also orders NASA to designate a leader for the effort and to get industry input within 60 days. The agency is seeking companies able to launch a reactor by 2030 since that’s around the time China intends to land its first astronaut on the moon.
The nuclear initiative means that NASA will continue to have a hand in nuclear development even after the Pentagon’s recent cancellation of a joint program on nuclear-powered rocket engines.
“While the budget did not prioritize nuclear propulsion, that wasn’t because nuclear propulsion is seen as a non-worthy technology,” the NASA official said.
The space station directive aims to replace the aging, leaky International Space Station with commercially run ones by changing how the agency awards contracts.
NASA plans to award at least two companies a contract within six months of the agency’s request for proposals. Officials hope to put a new station in space by 2030. Otherwise, only China would have a permanently crewed space station in orbit.
Several companies have risen to meet the space station demand, including Axiom Space, Vast, and Blue Origin. But lawmakers have expressed concern in recent months that the agency is not moving fast enough to give them the funds they need.
