Plans for installing a joint nuclear power plant on the moon’s surface within the next decade are being considered by Russian and Chinese officials, the head of Russia’s space agency said Tuesday, a project he said could allow for the development of lunar settlements amid similar efforts by the U.S.
Russian officials said the facility could allow lunar settlements to be developed.
Key Facts
Yuri Borisov, general director of Russia’s Roscosmos, said the space agency was “seriously considering” installing a nuclear reactor “jointly with our Chinese partners,”
according to the Russian state-run news agency Tass.
The project would be completed sometime between 2033 and 2035, according to Borisov, who reportedly
said the project would likely need to be done “without the presence of humans.”
Technology that would automate the nuclear power plant’s construction is nearly ready, Borisov said.
Nuclear energy on the moon would be able to power “future lunar settlements,” Borisov said, because modern solar panels would not be able to provide enough electricity.
Russia is also developing a nuclear-powered “space tugboat” that can transport cargo from one orbit to another, collect space debris or “engage in many other applications,” Borisov said.
Tangent
Borisov said Russia is against deploying nuclear weapons in space, and added he believed “space should be free of nuclear weapons.” Multiple U.S. outlets
reported last month Russia planned to use nuclear weapons in space, after House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-Ohio) warned of an unspecified “serious national security threat.” The weapons would have been used to target satellites, ABC News
reported, citing U.S. officials. Russian officials and President Vladimir Putin
condemned the claims, suggesting plans to deploy nuclear weapons in space were “bogus.”
Key Background
Russia’s Roscosmos and the China National Space Administration have been cooperating on building a research station on the moon by the end of 2035 since signing an agreement in 2021, according to Tass. The project includes the development of several lunar landers for research, a jumping robot and smart mini-rovers designed to study the moon’s surface, Tass reported. The project will also establish communications and power systems. Under the project’s timeline, China will send three missions to the moon’s surface, including the Chang’e 6 mission, which is expected to launch in May. NASA and the Energy Department are also developing plans for nuclear power on the moon, after
announcing contracts for three companies to help develop the project with the space agency in 2021. The project
aims to establish a nuclear power plant on the moon in the early 2030s. NASA officials have also
signaled for settlements on the moon, with the agency suggesting homes on the moon’s surface will be completed by 2040.
Surprising Fact
In August, Russia
launched its first mission to the moon’s surface in 47 years. The Luna-25 spacecraft was designed to be the first to ever land on the moon’s south pole as part of a space race against India’s space agency. The Luna-25 spacecraft subsequently spun out of control and crashed into the moon, while India’s Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft also crashed after suffering from a software error. Roscosmos subsequently
said it aimed to send cosmonauts to land on the moon within the next decade with the intent to build a moon base by 2031. Russia and India’s space race
coincides with efforts by other countries—including the U.S., China and Japan—who announced plans to explore the moon in recent years. Japan
landed a rover on the moon in January, though the spacecraft landed upside-down, causing the solar panels to infrequently restore power. Intuitive Machines
landed the first American spacecraft on the moon in over 50 years last month, though the spacecraft landed sideways near the moon’s south pole, causing it to lose power.
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