Space Reactor‑1 Freedom
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Space Reactor-1 "Freedom" (SR-1), is a proposed NASA spacecraft designed to be the first nuclear fission powered interplanetary spacecraft and demonstrate advanced nuclear electric propulsion in deep space.[1] Announced in March 2026, the spacecraft would be composed of a 20+ kilowatt closed Brayton cycle fission reactor and the Power and Propulsion Element previously developed for the Lunar Gateway.[2] The reactor will be fueled by high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) and uranium dioxide encased in a boron carbide radiation shield.[2]
SR-1 is scheduled to be launched to Mars in December 2028,[2] where it will deploy the Skyfall payload, an entry capsule with three Ingenuity‑class helicopters to scout future landing sites on the planet for human explorers and scan for subsurface water ice.[3]
The mission, sponsored by NASA and the Department of Energy, aims to demonstrate nuclear propulsion and power capabilities required for sustained exploration beyond the Moon and eventual journeys to Mars and the outer solar system.[4] The data gathered will also be to use SR-1 to inform the development of Lunar Reactor-1 (LR-1), a fission surface power reactor designed to keep the moon base operational in areas and periods of time without sunlight.[4]
