US President: NASA to launch nuclear-powered interplanetary spacecraft in 2028
Washington, August 28 (KUNA) – U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Friday that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is developing a nuclear-powered spacecraft designed for interplanetary travel, scheduled to be launched to Mars in 2028. The announcement came during a speech delivered by President Trump at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, following his presentation of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the four American astronauts who comprise the Artemis 2 crew. This honor has been bestowed upon only 30 individuals in U.S. history for exceptional achievements.
Trump stated that NASA “is developing a nuclear-powered spacecraft designed for interplanetary travel, scheduled to launch on a mission to Mars in 2028.” He affirmed that the spacecraft “will be among the first units to ultimately form a massive U.S. space fleet, making space travel as commonplace as ocean travel is today.”
He also announced the creation of the “American Space Academy,” a national educational institution aimed at training professionals from various military and civilian sectors to carry out missions that ensure U.S. supremacy in this field.
Trump added, “Today I have another historic announcement to make. It is something that fills me with great excitement, given the rapid growth of the space power and the commercial space sector, and the expansion of our ambitions to include the Moon and beyond, across vast distances.” He expressed his belief that “regions very far away, such as the Moon, may one day be considered as close as the first subway station was viewed in the past; the Moon will become a nearby destination.”
He noted that “it is clear that we will need to educate and train an entire generation of skilled military personnel, engineers, civilian operators, and others to carry out the missions we must accomplish, in which we currently excel, and will continue to excel with broad and rapid strides.”
He emphasized that this is “a highly significant development. Just as we think of the academies of West Point, Annapolis, the Air Force Academy, and the Coast Guard Academy—all great institutions—we now have the Space Force, and we will establish the Academy.” (End) R.S.R. / M.A.A.
