NASA and the U.S. military plan to launch a nuclear-powered spacecraft to Earth orbit in late 2025 or early 2026.
The project, known as DRACO (“Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations”), aims to give an in-space test to nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP), potentially revolutionary tech that could help humanity set up shop on Mars and other distant worlds.
The DRACO spacecraft will be developed and built by Lockheed Martin, project team members announced July 26.
“We’re going to put this together, we’re going to fly this demonstration, gather a bunch of great data and really, we believe, usher in a new age for the United States [and] for humankind, to support our space exploration mission,” Kirk Shireman, vice president of Lockheed Martin Lunar Exploration Campaigns, said during a press conference today.
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