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Advanced nuclear microreactors are moving towards operational capability as military and space energy solutions, according to recent comments from Antares Nuclear co-founder and chief executive officer Jordan Bramble.
Bramble, speaking to a US House Science Committee on September 2, confirmed that the microreactors are expected to have major implications for military energy resilience, national security and space power.
Antares Nuclear’s Mark-0 reactor reportedly reached criticality on 4 June this year at Idaho National Laboratory, and the company plans to operate its Mark-1 reactor at INL for six months in 2027, followed by military deployments at Fort Bragg and Joint Base San Antonio in 2028.
He also credited the US ADVANCE Act of 2024 and 2025 presidential executive orders with streamlining regulatory processes and establishing a Department of Energy Reactor Pilot Program.
“As Antares ramps up production, we are actively exploring commercial applications to provide resilient power to compute capabilities, remote oil and gas hubs, austere mining environments, fulfillment and distribution centers, and more,” Bramble said.
“We are also building nuclear power for space. In December 2025, President Trump signed his Space Superiority executive order 14369, which was followed in April 2026 by the National Science and Technology Memorandum-3, the National Initiative for American Space Nuclear Power. We at Antares are responding to this charge.
“The same heat-pipe architecture, passive safety, TRISO fuel, and manufacturability that define our terrestrial microreactor form the design basis for space applications. This dual-use approach aligns directly with NASA’s plans for lunar fission surface power and the Space Reactor-1 Freedom pathfinder. Let me be clear, Antares is eager to build to support NASA’s planned 2028 nuclear electric propulsion demonstration mission as well as lunar surface reactors ready for launch by 2030.”
Bramble speculated around first deployment of an advanced small modular reactor at a military installation by 2028, aligning with an existing executive-order target for an Army-regulated reactor.
“At Antares, we are focused on national security and the needs of our military. We are under contract with two military services to provide energy to critical assets at some of our nation’s most important military installations. Through the Defense Innovation Unit’s Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations (ANPI) initiative, we will deliver microreactors to enable missions at Joint Base San Antonio. Through the Army’s Janus Program, we will deliver microreactors at Fort Bragg, home of the Airborne and U.S. Army Special Operations Command,” according to Bramble.
“These two programs represent energy resilience for our men and women in uniform. They are contracted pathways to field systems that operate independently of the commercial grid and provide mission assurance to our nation’s military installations for years.
“Nuclear energy remains the high-density solution that removes the bottleneck for reindustrialization, economic progress, and national security. Adversaries already probe our energy networks.
“Hypersonic threats, space as a warfighting domain, and AI-enabled autonomous systems all require denser, always-available power that diesel or the grid alone can guarantee. Antares exists to deliver that capability on the warfighter’s timeline. And we won't stop there because we are confident that the nuclear companies that ultimately win the commercial market and international opportunities will emerge from military deployment first.”
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