NASA to build nuclear-powered SR-1 spacecraft for 2028 Mars launch

NASA announced Space Reactor-1 Freedom, the first interplanetary spacecraft powered by a nuclear reactor. An uncrewed Mars mission is planned for late 2028 with arrival in 2029; the roughly $2 billion project uses nuclear electric propulsion.

• A reactor of at least 20 kW will sit at the spacecraft's tip
• The reactor will switch on about two days after launch, far from Earth
• The trip to Mars is expected to take about a year
• Idaho National Laboratory is building the reactor for a late-2028 launch