NASA Acting Chief Duffy issues directive to speed up moon reactor plans

Loren Grush, Bloomberg News on Aug 4, 2025

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NASA’s acting administrator Sean Duffy plans to accelerate the construction of a nuclear reactor that could be used on the moon and alter the way NASA will partner with industry to replace the aging International Space Station.

The plans, outlined in directives distributed inside NASA and seen by Bloomberg on Monday, mark the first major policy changes by Duffy after U.S. President Donald Trump appointed him to the role as acting head of the space agency.

One of the directives, first reported by Politico, would aim to speed up the development of a nuclear fission reactor that could be used to generate power on the moon one day and inform future designs for a power plant that could be used on Mars.

NASA previously awarded contracts to commercial companies to come up with designs for small nuclear fission reactors, but Duffy’s directive instructs NASA to put a call out to industry to create a more powerful reactor, with the goal of having technology ready for launch as early as 2030.

The second directive targets NASA’s efforts to tap the commercial space industry to develop new space stations that could take over for the International Space Station when it is retired by the end of 2030.

The directive changes the way the space agency will contract with the companies selected to create space station replacements, a step designed to provide more flexibility if NASA’s funding levels fluctuate in the years ahead.

The moves come days after Duffy met with the head of Russia’s space agency, Dmitry Bakanov, marking the first conclave between leaders of the two countries’ space agencies since 2018.

During the meeting, Duffy and Bakanov discussed the future of the International Space Station, the orbiting laboratory which is used by both nations, and joint exploration of the moon, according to a Roscosmos statement.

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(With assistance from Sana Pashankar.)

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