NASA prices nuclear-powered Mars mission SR-1 Freedom at $2.1 billion
NASA · Firefly Aerospace · AeroVironment
NASA budgeted its first fission-powered Mars spacecraft, SR-1 Freedom, at $2.1 billion for a late-2028 launch.
what happened
NASA's SR-1 (Space Reactor-1) Freedom, planned as the first fission-powered interplanetary spacecraft, will cost about $2.1 billion in development, per a budget document sent to Congress and viewed by POLITICO, reported by Payload: $640 million in FY2026, $890 million in FY2027, $415 million in FY2028, and $180 million in FY2029, drawn from NASA's exploration account and funds from the 2025 Working Families Tax Cut Act. SR-1 is targeting a late-2028 launch, per NASA's own mission page, and will carry NASA's SkyFall Mars-helicopter mission; Firefly Aerospace holds a $13 million subcontract to build SkyFall's landing aeroshell.
why it matters
SR-1 would demonstrate nuclear electric propulsion for the first time in deep space, and its confirmed budget shows NASA still funding the demonstration despite a flat topline and a paused Gateway program. The mission anchors commercial subcontracts around it, including Firefly's aeroshell award and AeroVironment's helicopter work, giving both companies a stake in SR-1 clearing its funding hurdles through FY2029.
for who
Deep-space mission suppliers, NASA science-program watchers
signal-to-noise
quick facts
- Companies
- NASA, Firefly Aerospace, AeroVironment
- Category
- science
- Impact
- notable
- SNR
- 4 / 5
- Event date
- 2026-07-23
- Published
- 2026-07-23 17:36 UTC