Italy’s Selene Project Brings Nuclear Power to the Moon

Italy has concluded that solar panels by themselves will be insufficient if people are to live permanently on the Moon. Via a new national programme, Rome is advocating nuclear power on the lunar surface and seeking to establish itself as an essential partner for NASA and Europe during the next phase of crewed space exploration.

Italy’s nuclear wager on the Moon

In early December, the Italian Space Agency (ASI) formally unveiled Selene, an abbreviation of “Sistema Energetico Lunare con l’Energia Nucleare”. Its objective is to develop and test compact fission reactors capable of supplying permanent lunar bases.

Selene aims to create a “Moon Energy Hub” delivering constant, controllable power to surface habitats, vehicles and scientific stations.

The idea is straightforward in principle but difficult to deliver. Rather than relying chiefly on solar farms, Selene would use surface nuclear reactors (SNRs). These small systems would be positioned on the Moon’s surface, turn heat from nuclear fission into electricity, and supply a local grid serving multiple facilities.

For Italy, the initiative is more than a technological undertaking. It is a strategic move in the international return to the Moon. Russia, China and India have already indicated that they intend to build a joint nuclear power plant through the ILRS (International Lunar Research Station) programme. Italy hopes that presenting its own design will secure it a role in every significant conversation on powering and operating future lunar settlements.

Why solar power alone cannot support lunar colonies

Solar energy works on Earth because nighttime is brief and electricity networks are interconnected. Conditions on the Moon are much more demanding: at most sites, approximately 14 days of sunlight are followed by 14 days of darkness.

This extended “lunar night” presents a severe obstacle for bases powered entirely by solar energy. Batteries would require enormous capacity and mass, while power-intensive functions such as life support, communications and industrial processing cannot simply stop for two weeks each month.

Nuclear reactors offer what solar arrays on the Moon cannot: steady power, day and night, at almost any latitude.

NASA has drawn the same conclusion for its Artemis programme and is financing its own surface fission power concepts. Selene is Italy’s national response, intended to fit within that framework and assist European and American crews on the lunar surface.

Project Selene and the “Moon Energy Hub”

Selene has been set up as a three-year technology programme. Its principal result is intended to be the Moon Energy Hub (MEnH), a central facility containing the surface nuclear reactors and controlling the movement of energy throughout a base.

As well as the reactors, the programme addresses several challenging supporting systems:

• advanced sensors for tracking radiation, temperature and mechanical stress
• highly autonomous control software, since crews and ground teams cannot supervise the system 24/7
• wireless power transmission for remote users, limiting the need for heavy electrical cables
• thermal management systems capable of releasing surplus heat in a near-vacuum
• energy storage to manage abrupt shifts in demand or short interruptions

Removing heat is among the most sensitive challenges. Reactors produce substantially more heat than electricity, and space has neither air nor water to carry that heat away. Selene therefore incorporates an experimental test focused specifically on cooling, a capability that will be crucial in practical operation.

Designing for breakdowns as well as routine operation

Engineers are deliberately developing the system for demanding situations rather than only ordinary operating conditions. Earth-based electricity grids frequently experience sudden rises and falls in demand. A lunar grid would face similar changes, but with greater consequences, as an unforeseen fault could put air, water and communications at risk.

The MEnH concept includes storage and flexible routing so that a local fault does not black out an entire base.

In the present concept, the hub sends high-power supplies to major consumers including habitats, laboratories and resource-extraction facilities. Lower-power tasks could meanwhile use mobile receivers connected to wireless transmissions. This could include small rovers, temporary scientific stations and construction robots working tens of kilometres from the principal base.

Italy’s broader lunar ambitions

Selene is not an isolated development. Italy has spent years establishing itself as a key provider of hardware for Artemis and the developing lunar economy.

The Multi-Purpose Habitation (MPH) module is a prominent example. Under an agreement reached in 2022, NASA approved ASI to lead the development of this pressurised lunar habitat. It is envisaged as a flexible “home on the Moon”, designed to accommodate crews on short and medium-duration stays and connect with rovers, power systems and other modules.

The MPH is intended to serve as more than accommodation: it would also provide an emergency refuge. An astronaut in difficulty, regardless of nationality, should be able to use it in an emergency. Combining such a sanctuary with a dependable nuclear-powered grid strengthens the appeal of Italy’s proposals to international partners.

Key Italian roles in orbital infrastructure

Italy also has a major role in the NASA-led Gateway, the small space station planned to orbit the Moon. Italian industry, particularly Thales Alenia Space, is constructing or jointly constructing several modules:

Module / element	Role
ESPRIT	Communications, refuelling and additional storage for Gateway
I-HAB	International habitation module for crew living and work space
HALO structure	Pressure shell and structural elements for the main US habitation module

This mix of surface habitats, orbital modules and a dedicated energy system gives Italy considerable leverage with both the European Space Agency and NASA. The country can plausibly seek additional astronaut places, greater scientific leadership and a lasting role in lunar decision-making.

Nuclear power on the Moon: risks, safeguards and public perception

Using nuclear power in space is far from unprecedented. The United States and Russia have launched dozens of nuclear-powered satellites, while radioisotope heaters have supported missions to Mars and further afield. Selene and comparable proposals differ in scale and placement, involving larger reactors operating near human habitats.

Risk management would depend on several protective layers. Reactors would probably be transported “cold”, with fuel inserted or activated only after landing and inspection. Locations would be chosen sufficiently far from habitats to reduce radiation exposure while still enabling efficient power transmission. Shielding might combine regolith – the Moon’s dusty soil – with engineered barriers surrounding critical components.

One often overlooked advantage of lunar nuclear power is political: it reduces dependence on Earth shipments of fuel and batteries once a base is built.

Public opinion remains an important consideration. Even where the physics are sound and designs are cautious, the term “nuclear” can still provoke scepticism. Italian officials and engineers will need to communicate clearly and soberly about the reasons for using the technology and the safeguards that will apply.

What a nuclear-powered lunar base could look like

Picture a scene ten years from now: an Artemis crew leaves its lander near the Moon’s south pole. A group of cylindrical modules makes up the central habitat, while robotic haulers operate a little further away, piling regolith into mounds for construction materials and radiation protection.

Several kilometres away, on level ground, stands the Moon Energy Hub. Its reactors operate quietly within armoured enclosures. High radiators, formed as panels or trusses, emit a faint infrared glow as they release heat into space. Cables connect the hub to the main base, while certain rovers recharge through wireless receiving pads.

Solar arrays would still make a contribution during the lunar day, reducing the reactors’ burden and building reserves in batteries or thermal-storage systems. Across the two-week night, the base would scarcely register the sunset. Lighting would remain on, chemistry laboratories would continue working, oxygen-extraction plants would keep processing regolith, and the habitat would maintain Earth-like conditions.

Key terms and concepts behind Selene

A number of technical terms are central to this Italian programme:

• Fission reactor: equipment that splits heavy atomic nuclei, producing heat that is subsequently converted into electricity.
• Surface nuclear reactor (SNR): a compact fission system intended to operate on a planetary surface instead of in orbit.
• Wireless power transmission: the delivery of energy without physical cables, such as through microwaves or lasers.
• Technology maturity: an indication of how near a technology is to genuine operational deployment rather than laboratory demonstration.

As these technologies come together, their value could extend beyond lunar projects. Methods for autonomous reactor control, highly reliable sensors and thermal management could be applied to remote power stations on Earth, including those in polar areas or disaster zones where electricity grids are vulnerable.

Italy’s Selene programme occupies the meeting point between space ambition and terrestrial usefulness. Should it demonstrate a workable, safe Moon Energy Hub, a nuclear-powered settlement could move from a science-fiction scenario to a serious possibility for space agencies around the world.