{"id":636643,"date":"2026-10-20T20:34:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T20:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/636643\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T20:34:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T20:34:09","slug":"nasas-sr-1-freedom-advances-with-progress-on-nuclear-power-module","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/636643\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s SR-1 Freedom Advances with Progress on Nuclear Power Module"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Destined for Mars and beyond, NASA\u2019s Space Reactor-1 (SR-1) Freedom will be humanity\u2019s first fission-powered spacecraft to travel outside Earth\u2019s orbit. Announced during NASA\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/ignition\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Ignition<\/a>\u201d event, this mission will demonstrate nuclear electric propulsion in deep space, and progress is underway on its key element: the nuclear power module. To expedite development of the spacecraft, NASA and its partners have mutually agreed to key contract actions that will advance the SR\u20111 Freedom mission.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese contract actions not only reduce technical risk and help us maintain momentum toward our 2028 launch, but they also strengthen collaboration across our partners,\u201d said Steve Sinacore, SR-1 Freedom program director. \u201cThese actions keep SR\u20111 Freedom on track and ensure we\u2019re building the strongest possible foundation for NASA\u2019s first fission\u2011powered voyage beyond Earth orbit while developing technology extensible to a vibrant space nuclear future.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sierra Lobo Inc. will provide the nuclear power module\u2019s closed Brayton cycle power conversion system, which converts thermal energy from its fission reactor into electrical power needed for SR-1 Freedom\u2019s nuclear electric propulsion demonstration. The work will be conducted under the Space Flight Systems Development and Operations Contract III, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/news-release\/nasa-awards-spaceflight-development-operations-contract\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">awarded in 2024<\/a>, to support spaceflight hardware design, development, testing, and operations at NASA\u2019s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The power conversion system will be integrated with the fission reactor, which is being designed and developed by the Department of Energy (DOE)\u2019s Idaho National Laboratory to complete the nuclear power module. NASA and DOE incorporate thorough safety standards throughout the design and development of the SR-1 Freedom spacecraft, including interagency safety reviews, continuous oversight by a NASA chief safety officer, regulatory compliance, and a rigorous safety design process focusing on hazards, failure tolerance, and nuclear safety. In addition, the nuclear reactor portion of SR-1 Freedom will remain inactive until the spacecraft leaves Earth orbit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Launching in late 2028, SR\u20111 Freedom will deliver the <a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/skyfall\/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">SkyFall <\/a>science mission, a team of three Mars helicopters evolved from the Ingenuity design, to collect scientific data, demonstrate exploration zones, and identify potential water sources. The mission will pave the way for deep space exploration and next\u2011generation fission-powered systems designed to keep <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/moonbase\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">NASA\u2019s Moon Base<\/a> operating through periods of darkness and in locations where solar power alone is not sufficient.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For information about SR-1 Freedom, visit:<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission\/space-reactor-1-freedom\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission\/space-reactor-1-freedom\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Destined for Mars and beyond, NASA\u2019s Space Reactor-1 (SR-1) Freedom will be humanity\u2019s first fission-powered spacecraft to travel&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":636644,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[2294,20571,111,139,69,147,12489,392,207330,145],"class_list":["post-636643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-general","tag-glenn-research-center","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-science-research","tag-space","tag-space-nuclear-propulsion-snp","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=636643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/636644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=636643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=636643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=636643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}