President Donald Trump said NASA will launch its first nuclear-powered spacecraft bound for Mars within the next two years, part of what he described as a broader effort to extend American presence into space.
Trump made the announcement speaking at the UP Summit at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, framing the mission as a precursor to putting American astronauts on the Red Planet.
“Within the next two years, NASA will launch the first ever nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars,” Trump said.
“We’re going to be paving the way for astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the Red planet,” he said.
The Mars announcement comes alongside NASA’s Artemis program, which is working toward a sustained human presence on the moon ahead of any Mars mission. Astronauts completed a lunar flyby earlier this year as part of Artemis II. Artemis III is set to test spacecraft and landing systems in Earth orbit in 2027, and Artemis IV is expected to attempt a lunar landing in early 2028, before Trump’s term ends.
Trump also said his administration intends to establish a permanent American presence on the lunar surface, pointing to his recently signed “American Declaration of Freedom in Space.”
“Just this week, I issued the American Declaration of Freedom in Space, proclaiming all of space opened for American settlement, American civilization, and American freedom,” Trump said.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman spoke before Trump and laid out the agency’s longer-term goals for deep space exploration.
“We are going to venture farther into the solar system and move closer to that next giant leap,” Isaacman said.
Isaacman said the administration’s ultimate goal remains the day “American astronauts plant the Stars and Stripes on Mars.”
The administration has also floated other space-related initiatives, including a proposed U.S. Space Academy announced in August, intended to train students for careers in the Space Force, NASA and the private spaceflight industry.
“Our calling is to explore. Our purpose is to build, and our aim is always to win,” Trump said.
