Yuri Borisov, the chairman of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, stated on Tuesday that the country and China are thinking of building a nuclear power station on the moon between 2033 and 2035. According to Borisov, this might eventually lead to the construction of lunar communities.
Former deputy minister of defense Borisov said that Moscow might help with its knowledge of “nuclear space energy” and that China and Russia had been collaborating on a lunar mission.
“Today we are seriously considering a project – somewhere at the turn of 2033-2035 – to deliver and install a power unit on the lunar surface together with our Chinese colleagues,” Borisov stated.
He said that nuclear power may power future lunar communities, but solar panels would not be able to supply enough electricity.
Regarding the potential strategy, he stated, “This is a very serious challenge…it should be done in automatic mode, without the presence of humans.”
Borisov also mentioned Russian aspirations to construct a freight spacecraft propelled by nuclear energy. He said that, with the exception of figuring out how to cool the nuclear reactor, all technical issues pertaining to the project had been resolved.
“Yes, we are developing a tugboat for space travel. Thanks to a nuclear reactor and powerful turbines, this enormous, cyclopean structure would be able to move heavy loads between orbits, gather space trash, and perform a variety of other tasks, according to Borisov.
Although there have been previous talks by Russian authorities of grand intentions to mining on the Moon, the Russian space program has faced several obstacles recently.
Following the uncontrollable spin-out and crash of Russia Luna-25 spacecraft last year, its first lunar mission in 47 years was unsuccessful.
Moscow has said that it will carry out further lunar missions before looking at the prospect of a crewed joint Russian-Chinese mission and maybe even a lunar outpost.
Prior to 2030, China stated last month that it wanted to send its first astronaut to the moon.
Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected as untrue an American warning that his country intended to launch nuclear weapons into space, claiming it was a ruse to force Russia to enter arms talks on the conditions set forth by the West.
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