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Space Reactor-1 Freedom: NASA mission page

Page: NASA's mission page, undated. Its flight-path image is uploaded under 2026/06 with the file name sr-1-flight-path-graphic-september-2026, indirect evidence that the page was current in September 2026. https://www.nasa.gov/mission/space-reactor-1-freedom/. Fetched 2026-10-02T04:02:34Z. File: sources/moon-base/nasa-gov-mission-space-reactor-1-freedom.md.

Summary. SR-1 Freedom, "the first fission powered spacecraft to travel beyond Earth's orbit", will demonstrate nuclear electric propulsion and deliver the SkyFall helicopters to Mars. It adds to the Ignition fact sheet and deck 5 a list of vehicle figures, six numbered objectives, and one sentence that ties SR-1 to the Moon Base directly: the mission will "prove fission surface power technology for NASA's Moon Base". Its content is on Mars-forward and Lunar Nuclear Fission System.

Key points

  • At a glance. Target "Mars"; mission type "Martian flyby and science payload deployment"; launch and arrival "2028 / 2029"; partner "Department of Energy".
  • Purpose ("A Trailblazing Voyage"): "Targeting launch in late 2028, the mission will showcase American nuclear power operations in space, prove fission surface power technology for NASA's Moon Base, and help enable future fuel-efficient spacecraft". The summary: "a pathfinder mission that will lay groundwork and develop technologies for future applications, including for surface power on the Moon and Mars and for outer solar system exploration".
  • Objectives ("Paving The Way"), numbered: "1. Operate a nuclear-electric propulsion system in space"; "2. Launch on Earth escape trajectory"; "3. Utilize the 2028 Mars launch window"; "4. Leverage existing technology and flight hardware to the maximum extent possible"; "5. Deliver Skyfall to Mars Intercept"; "6. Reactor Extended Performance". Also: it will "set regulatory and launch precedent, and activate the industrial base for future fission power and propulsion systems".
  • Vehicle ("Powering SR-1 Freedom"): "Weight: About 26,455 pounds (12,000 kilograms)"; "Fuel: High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU)"; "Power: 20 kilowatts electric closed Brayton cycle power conversion system"; "Spacecraft Bus: Power and Propulsion Element generating 48 kilowatts of electrical power"; "Thrusters: Advanced Electric Propulsion System, 12-kilowatt Hall thruster"; "Communications: X-band communications with NASA's Deep Space Network".
  • The sequence to LR-1 ("SR-1 Freedom Flight Path"): "It will inform and enable Lunar Reactor-1 (LR-1), a fission surface power system designed to keep NASA's Moon Base operating through periods of darkness and in locations where solar power alone is not sufficient. By flying a reactor first — without the added complexity of a lunar landing — SR-1 reduces nuclear flight risk". "Together, SR-1 and LR-1 are the beginnings of a domestic nuclear-space industrial base that scales to power permanent lunar outposts".
  • SkyFall ("NASA's SkyFall Mission"): "three Mars helicopters, evolved from the heritage Ingenuity design", delivered by "mid-air deployment", to "collect scientific data, demonstrate exploration zones, and identify potential water ice sources". Instruments: ground-penetrating radar, imagers, air temperature, wind speed and direction. Aims: "Use ground penetrating radar to find ice deposits"; "Measure air temperature, wind speed, and direction"; "Demonstrate usefulness and feasibility of potential exploration zone scouting methods using aerial mobility". NASA is "targeting flat, low-elevation areas that are free of many geological obstacles" for "safe landing for human exploration on Mars"; "The helicopters could last months, and potentially years."

Against the Ignition material (the wiki's comparison)

  • Launch: "late 2028" and "2028 / 2029" here; "December 2028" in the nuclear fact sheet and deck 5. No conflict.
  • Power: "20 kilowatts electric" here; "more than 20 kilowatts of electrical power" (fact sheet) and ">20 kWe" (deck 5). For the PPE's own "48 kilowatts", deck 5's text layer has "Up to 48KW" beside "Distribution".
  • LR-1's wording: "where solar power alone is not sufficient" here; "where solar power alone cannot reach" in the fact sheet. SR-1 "reduces" nuclear flight risk here; it "retires" it in the fact sheet.
  • Spelling: the page writes "SkyFall" in its headings and text and "Skyfall" in objective 5; the fact sheet writes "Skyfall", and deck 5's quoted line "SkyFall" (slides 9–10).
  • The Moon Base tie. The fact sheet ties LR-1 to the Moon Base; this page also says SR-1 itself will "prove fission surface power technology for NASA's Moon Base". It places SR-1 in no Moon Base phase and doesn't list it as a Moon Base asset.

What it doesn't say

LR-1's power level or date; any ADD element, gap or Mars decision (MD-07). In the captured text, two links don't match their labels: "Ignition" points to the SkyFall mission page and "SkyFall" to Ingenuity's.

Mars-forward · Lunar Nuclear Fission System · Missions and assets · Gateway (the PPE) · nuclear fact sheet · Ignition deck 5