Kamal Ghorui
MUMBAI: Three days after the successful splashdown of Artemis-2, the Trump administration on Tuesday issued a memorandum which among other things includes safely deploying nuclear reactors in space orbit as early as 2028, and on the moon in 2030.Dated April 14, the document issued by Michael J Kratsios, assistant to the President for science and technology and director, office of science and technology policy, is titled “National Initiative For American Space Nuclear Power”.It states that the “United States will lead the world in developing and deploying space nuclear power for exploration, commerce and defence. Agencies will establish cost-effective partnerships with private sector innovators to meet near-term objectives.”“Nasa will, within 30 days of this memorandum, initiate a programme to develop a mid-power space reactor with a lunar fission surface power variant ready for launch by 2030. Nasa will partner with multiple vendors to develop fission power systems,”it states.“The overall strategy for the initiative is to conduct parallel and mutually-reinforcing Nasa and Department of War design competitions to enable near-term demonstration and use of low to mid-power space reactors in orbit and on the lunar surface and prepare to deploy high-power reactors in the 2030s,”states the White House memorandum.The mid-power reactors will be designed to provide 20 kilowatts of electricity for at least three years in orbit and five years on the moon since the US is planning a permanent human settlement on the lunar surface.It says nuclear electric propulsion and fission surface power could be advanced, while laying the path towards nuclear thermal propulsion for future crewed missions to Mars.The space-nuclear initiative, which is seen as an attempt to score over its main rival, China, focuses on close coordination between participating agencies to maximise cost effectiveness and minimize technical and schedule risk, including regulatory processes and requirements for reactor development, testing, transportation and launch, reactor and radiator design.The US department of energy will support the development and use of space nuclear power systems.
