NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman envisions a groundbreaking future for the agency, with plans to build a $20 billion lunar base that he believes will establish a lasting presence on the Moon. This announcement came during NASA’s Ignition event on Tuesday, where Isaacman also discussed ambitions to send a nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars, according to the New York Times.
With the intention of setting up a base on the Moon, NASA has decided to pause its Gateway project “in its current form,” which initially aimed to launch a space station orbiting the Moon. The agency is now shifting its focus toward infrastructure that supports ongoing surface operations, and some of the Gateway project equipment will be repurposed for this new direction.
NASA’s vision includes constructing the lunar base through three phases. The first phase will focus on developing communication and navigation systems and deploying robotic landers and vehicles to assist astronauts on the Moon. The following phase will involve “recurring astronaut operations on the surface,” leading to a “long-duration human presence,” which will pave the way for delivering the heavier infrastructure needed for a permanent lunar base.
While Isaacman did not specify when the lunar base would be completed, he mentioned that NASA plans to invest around $20 billion over the next seven years, accomplishing this through numerous missions, as reported by the NYT.
Beyond the lunar base, NASA has also revealed plans for the Space Reactor-1 Freedom, described as “the first nuclear-powered interplanetary spacecraft,” set to launch to Mars by the end of 2028. Upon reaching Mars, this spacecraft will release a payload equipped with helicopters, similar to Ingenuity, the small, autonomous helicopter that achieved the first powered, controlled flight on Mars in 2021.
