GoKawiilA successful mission would herald a new era in spaceflight—and might just give the US the edge in the race against China. But the project remains shrouded in mystery.
MIT Technology Review picked the brains of nuclear power and propulsion experts to find out how the nuclear-powered spacecraft might work. Here’s what we discovered.
—Robin George Andrews
This story is part of MIT Technology Review Explains, our series untangling the complex, messy world of technology to help you understand what’s coming next. You can read more from the series here.
Coming soon: our 10 Things That Matter in AI Right Now
Each year, we compile our 10 Breakthrough Technologies list, featuring our educated predictions for which technologies will change the world. Our 2026 list, however, was harder to wrangle than normal. Why? We had so many worthy AI candidates we couldn’t fit them all in!
That got us thinking: what if we made an entirely new list all about AI? Before we knew it, we had the beginnings of what we’re calling 10 Things That Matter in AI Right Now.
On April 21, we’ll unveil the list on stage at our signature AI conference, EmTech AI, and then publish it online later that day. If you want to be among the first to see it, join us at EmTech AI or become a subscriber to livestream the announcement.
Find out more about the list’s methodology and aims here.