Trump Orders Nuclear Reactors in Space: New 'Golden Dome' Shield to Guard America

The United States has gotten its new marching orders, which means a huge change is coming for the final frontier. President Donald Trump signed a wide-ranging executive order on Thursday, Dec. 18, called 'Ensuring American Space Superiority'. This order set off a new era of competition in space. The order makes it clear that the White House sees dominance outside of our atmosphere as the key to both national security and future economic growth.

'The United States must therefore pursue a space policy that will extend the reach of human discovery, secure the Nation's vital economic and security interests, unleash commercial development and lay the foundation for a new space age,' the document states. The order explicitly treats space as 'critical infrastructure', moving beyond symbolic exploration to focus on tangible orbital control.

The order sets out a breakneck pace for the US space programme, demanding that astronauts return to the moon by 2028. This is followed by an even more ambitious target: the commencement of a permanent lunar base by 2030. According to the text, these milestones are essential 'to ensure a sustained American presence in space and enable the next steps in Mars exploration'.

The Nuclear Ambitions of Donald Trump

A striking pillar of this new vision is the pivot towards nuclear energy. The 'Ensuring American Space Superiority' order prioritises the deployment of nuclear reactors both in Earth's orbit and on the lunar surface. To meet the president's aggressive schedule, at least one of these facilities must be ready for launch by 2030.

To manage this, the White House has ordered the creation of a 'National Initiative for American Space Nuclear Power', a multi-agency body designed to bypass traditional research delays. While NASA has been quietly developing fission reactors for some time, this executive mandate pulls those long-term goals into the immediate future.

The directive coincides with a major leadership overhaul at NASA. Billionaire entrepreneur and private astronaut Jared Isaacman officially took the reins as the agency's 15th administrator on Thursday. Isaacman, who was confirmed by the Senate in a 67-30 vote and sworn in on the same day the order was signed, replaces acting administrator Sean Duffy.

He now faces the monumental task of aligning the agency's multi-billion-pound budget with the president's vision of 'space superiority'. During his confirmation, Isaacman warned that the US is in a 'great competition' with China and that falling behind would 'shift the balance of power here on Earth'.

Defensive Shields and the Space Economy Under Donald Trump

Beyond exploration, the document leans heavily into the militarisation and commercialisation of the heavens. It calls for the rapid development of 'prototype next-generation missile defense technologies by 2028'.

This is part of a broader strategy linked to the president's Executive Order 14186 (The Iron Dome for America), signed on Jan. 27, 2025. This project has been frequently described as a 'Golden Dome' designed to protect the country from aerial and space-based threats, with the new order specifically directing agencies to track and counter the placement of nuclear weapons in orbit by adversaries.

From an economic perspective, the goals are equally high-stakes. The president is seeking to attract 'at least $50 billion of additional investment in American space markets by 2028'. There is also a renewed push to increase the frequency of rocket launches and landings, capitalising on the momentum already generated by private giants like SpaceX.

Furthermore, the order reinforces the transition of low-Earth orbit to the private sector, mandating that a 'commercial pathway' replace the government-owned International Space Station by 2030.

The implementation phase begins immediately. NASA has been given a 90-day window to submit a comprehensive plan on how it will lead the world in exploration. Simultaneously, Isaacman and the Secretary of Commerce must identify any acquisition programmes that are 30 per cent behind schedule or over budget — a clear sign that the administration intends to prune underperforming projects to make room for its new priorities.

The order also revokes Executive Order 14056, the 2021 directive which renewed the National Space Council (NSC). By dismantling this structure, the president has consolidated space policy authority under the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. One thing is certain: under this new roadmap, the race to the stars has just become a sprint.

This new order ends the time of symbolic space exploration and starts a strategic sprint for orbital dominance. The world will be watching to see if Jared Isaacman can really reach the ambitious 2030 goals for lunar bases and nuclear deployment as he takes over at NASA.