The mission, called Space Reactor-1 Freedom (SR-1 Freedom), is set to launch in December 2028. This mission aims to showcase the use of nuclear fission in space to power electric thrusters. While nuclear technology has been around for decades, it lacked the drive, purpose, destination, and leadership—until now.

The U.S. space agency will aim to send a nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars—a first—in a bid to show that nuclear propulsion can be used to send missions into deep space

NASA has big, potentially revolutionary plans coming up. On March 24, the agency announced that it wants to send a nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars by the end of 2028. If successful, it would be the first probe to use nuclear propulsion to travel beyond Earth’s orbit.

The updated exploration plan details surface habitat concepts, cargo and power infrastructure, and a nuclear thermal propulsion pathfinder for crewed deep-space transit.

NASA plans to launch a nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars by 2028, a major step for deep space exploration and its planned moon base.

The agency’s leader said new plans and timelines for the coming decade aim to create a permanent foothold by humans on another world and inspire Americans.

NASA is quietly rewriting the script for human exploration of the Red Planet, turning robots from remote-controlled tools into autonomous partners tasked with keeping crews alive far from home. Instead of waiting for astronauts to solve every problem in ...

After days of delays, Blue Origin's towering New Glenn rocket thundered into the skies above Florida once again. The mission, which Blue Origin refers to as NG-2, was the spacecraft's second-ever launch following its debut earlier in January. But it was ...