WASHINGTON, USA, Oct. 8, 2026 - NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy have signed an agreement to speed up the development of nuclear power and propulsion for space.^[1][2] NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and Energy Secretary Chris Wright signed the memorandum of understanding, titled "Accelerating American Leadership in Space Nuclear Power and Propulsion", on 8 October 2026^[3] at the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace in Washington.^[4] It takes effect on 1 November.^[5] The agreement covers the whole chain of space nuclear work, from research and fuel production to testing, launch integration and operations.^[6] It formalizes plans the two agencies already had rather than starting new ones, Payload reported.^[7] The first mission in line is Space Reactor-1 Freedom, a nuclear-powered spacecraft NASA plans to launch in 2028.^[8][9] NASA says it paves the way for Lunar Reactor-1, a fission power system meant to keep its future Moon Base running through darkness and shadow.^[10] A December 2025 executive order calls for a lunar reactor by 2030.^[11] Reactors can keep operating through the lunar night and in permanently shadowed regions.^[12] The partnership also covers radioisotope power for science missions. NASA's Dragonfly mission to Saturn's moon Titan will run on a radioisotope thermoelectric generator^[13] and is scheduled to launch in 2028.^[14] Solar panels need sunlight, which is weak far from the Sun and absent during the two-week lunar night. A fission reactor or a radioisotope generator supplies steady power regardless, which is why both agencies see nuclear power as key to long stays on the Moon and missions deeper into the solar system. Impact Insight. Nuclear power works far from the Sun and through the long lunar night, where solar panels struggle, and nuclear propulsion could shorten trips across the solar system. The link to planetary defense is indirect: more powerful propulsion and power could one day let spacecraft reach a threatening asteroid sooner, or push it harder, than today's technology allows.