Here is NASA’s plan for nuking Gateway and sending it to Mars

In addition to efficiency, nuclear-electric propulsion systems have the advantage of using conventional plasma thrusters. But instead of using solar energy to power the thrusters’ xenon fuel, the SR-1 will use electricity generated from a nuclear reactor.

“Our nuclear program, SR-1, is not about lobbying for billions of dollars to start a completely new mission,” Isaacman said. “To be honest, after $20 billion of failed programs over time we haven’t won the right to be able to do this. That’s why we’re taking hardware that we already have, a reactor that’s mostly built, fuel that’s mostly paid for over time.”

NASA officials did not disclose the estimated cost of the SR-1 mission.

“After proving that nuclear propulsion works,” then you can come back and maybe ask for more [funding] In the future when you show it can be done,” Isaacman said.

“SR-1 Freedom is essentially a new system, a reactor, on a spacecraft bus that already exists,” Sinacor said. “The deadline will match the requirement for the next Mars launch window in December 2028. Orbital mechanics do not interact, and the scope should bend around this deadline.”

There are still some obstacles that will not be easy to overcome. Getting any major space mission, especially one as novel as a nuclear propulsion demo, ready to launch in less than three years will require intense focus, resistance to mission creep, and near-perfect execution. Synacor set an ambitious timeline for the SR-1, with mission design completed by June and large-scale assembly beginning in early 2028. If the mission misses the launch opportunity in late 2028, the next Earth-Mars alignment will not occur until the early 2031s.

“We’re not trying to do everything,” Sinacor said. “We are trying to do the hard thing, which is to operate a coupled nuclear reactor, power conversion and electric propulsion thruster system beyond Earth orbit for the first time.”

Although NASA will be the “key integrator” for the SR-1, actually launching radioactive fuel into space requires input from multiple federal agencies, including the Department of Energy. Any rocket selected to launch a nuclear-powered mission must undergo a special certification. SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, which NASA originally booked to launch the Gateway core module, is undergoing nuclear certification to launch NASA’s Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s moon Titan.