NASA is working on a simplified approach to managing the Space Reactor demonstration mission 1 (SR-1) Freedom is the first flight demonstration of nuclear electric propulsion. The launch is planned for the end 2028 year.
The mission involves the use of a nuclear reactor to power electric motors, which will allow sending the device to Mars. To speed up development, NASA is repurposing an off-the-shelf PPE electric propulsion system (designed for the Gateway lunar station) and uses existing nuclear reactor designs from the US Department of Energy. NASA Acting Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Development Lori Glaze said, that the management discussed the intention to simplify the processes, which will allow you to move faster. NASA focuses on maximizing the use of existing technologies and minimizing new developments.
SR-1 Freedom will deliver the SkyFall rover to Mars, which will deploy three helicopters in the Martian atmosphere, built on Ingenuity. The mission does not yet have a public cost estimate and was not included in NASA's budget request for 2027 year. Funding is planned to be provided through the redistribution of available resources, in particular, funds for Gateway. NASA officials admit, that the schedule is ambitious and challenging, and members of the Board of National Academies expressed some skepticism about the two-year development time frame. The review of the project is planned for autumn.
Source: https://spacenews.com