Los Alamos National Laboratory's concept of a space nuclear reactor system. (Image credit: LANL) Published by Defense News, 12 September 2026 TORRANCE, Calif. — The Office of the Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration has awarded California-based nuclear energy startup Antares $161 million under
The Kosmos 954 satellite burned up upon reentry, scattering radioactive debris across northern Canada (Screenshot via YouTube) By Chris Jeremia, Published by Space Daily, 29 August 2026 Moscow's ambassador said the reactor on board had been designed for complete destruction on re-entry — radioactivity had already fallen across 124,000 square
Artist concept of NASA’s SR-1 Freedom spacecraft utilizing a nuclear electric propulsion system to journey toward Mars in late 2028. | Image Credit: NASA By Christian Saciao, Published by yahoo!tech, 24 August 2026 The mission could prove nuclear propulsion is key to the future of deep-space exploration Mars exploration could
NASA's Space Reactor-1 Freedom cruises past Mars in this artist's concept, demonstrating nuclear electric propulsion in deep space. Source. Credit: NASA. By Lachlan Brown, Published by Space Daily, 21 August 2026 NASA has put a date on an idea that the United States has studied for more than six decades
A concept for a later phase of NASA's proposed lunar base. Credit: NASA By Therese Jones, Published by Space News, 17 August 2026 Earlier this month, a discarded SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage crashed into the lunar surface at 8,700 kilometers per hour. This was not a controlled landing. The
NASA plans to build a semi-permanent base on the Moon in the 2030s, as shown in this illustration. NASA By Clive Neal, Published by The Conversation, 14 July 2026 Lots of excitement for space bubbled up in spring 2026. The Artemis II mission took a crew of four on a
Nano Tritium battery: Citi Labs By Mrigakshi Dixit, Published by Interesting Engineering, 7 July 2026 Miami-based City Labs is all set to launch the world’s first commercial nuclear-powered satellite into orbit. Solar panels have some challenges. When a satellite slips into the shadow of the Earth, hits a permanently dark
By Space Daily Editorial Team, 9 June 2026 Building a nuclear-powered interplanetary spacecraft typically takes a decade. NASA is trying to do it in roughly two and a half years — and the only way the math works is by welding together two programs that were never designed to talk
