NASA's SR-1 Freedom Mission

[Yazata]

Announced by Jared at his Ignition event on Tuesday March 24, 2026.

America's first nuclear powered spacecraft (SR-1 means Space Reactor 1) planned to launch uncrewed to Mars in December 2028. It will carry JPL's Skyfall mission, designed to land three Ingenuity class Mars helicopters on Mars.

Nuclear spacecraft are sort of Jared Isaacman's dream and his new job gives him the opportunity to make his dreams reality. The project aims to establish regulatory and launch precedents for nuclear hardware in space, creating a foundation for future missions to the outer solar system where solar energy is insufficient. It will use a very small nuclear fission reactor to generate electricity, which will then power ion thrusters.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_thruster

Very preliminary design graphic. The SR-1 Freedom spacecraft is still being designed and the final version might change a lot.

(NASA graphic)

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