Russia and China are studying the possibility of installing a nuclear power plant on the Moon between 2033 and 2035declared Yuri Borisov, head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, on Tuesday, something that, in his opinion, could one day allow the construction of lunar settlements.
Borisov, former deputy defense minister, said Russia and China have been working together on a lunar program and that Moscow can contribute with its experience in “space nuclear energy”.
“Today we are seriously considering a project – sometime in 2033-2035 – to supply and install a power unit on the lunar surface together with our Chinese colleagues“Borisov declared.
According to Borisov, solar panels could not provide enough electricity to power future lunar settlementswhile nuclear energy could.
Borisov also spoke of Russian plans to build a nuclear-powered cargo spacecraft. He stated that all technical issues relating to the project had been resolved, except for finding a solution to cool the nuclear reactor..
“Indeed, we are working on a space tug. This enormous cyclopean structure would be capablethanks to a nuclear reactor and high-power turbines (…) to transport large loads from one orbit to another, collect space debris and devote itself to many other applications,” Borisov declared.
The Russian authorities have already spoken on other occasions about their ambitious plans to one day exploit the Moon, But the Russian space program has suffered a series of setbacks in recent years.
Its first lunar mission in 47 years failed last year after the Russian Luna-25 spacecraft went out of control and crashed.
Moscow has stated that it will launch new lunar missions and will explore the possibility of a joint Russian-Chinese manned mission and even a lunar base.
China declared last month that its goal was to put the first Chinese astronaut on the Moon before 2030.
Last month, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin called the United States' warning that Moscow planned to place nuclear weapons in space falseclaiming that it was a ploy to lure Russia into arms negotiations on Western terms.
