Trump: NASA will launch nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars within two years

President Donald Trump said Friday at Kennedy Space Center that NASA will launch the first nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars within two years, Fox News reports.

Speaking at the UP Summit in Cape Canaveral, Trump framed the mission as a step toward planting the American flag on the red planet. "Within the next two years, NASA will launch the first-ever nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars," he said. "We're going to be paving the way for astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the red planet."

The pledge lands alongside NASA's Artemis push — lunar flybys already flown, lunar landing systems still ahead — and Trump's broader pitch that American space leadership is back on offense.