It's a 21st-century 'space race.' The Trump administration has announced plans to send a nuclear reactor to the moon. Now, many are asking: Do they have the legal right to do that — and who owns the moon?

In April 2025, China reportedly unveiled plans to build a nuclear power plant on the Moon by 2035. This plant would support its planned international lunar research station. The United States countered in August, when acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy reportedly suggested a US reactor would be operational on the Moon by 2030.

NASA has set a 2030 deadline to build a 100-kilowatt nuclear reactor on the moon. It’s an ambitious but potentially achievable goal that could transform space exploration, experts tell WIRED.