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 Reuters.
According to Borisov, this might eventually lead to the construction of lunar communities.
Former deputy minister of defense Borisov stated that Moscow might provide its experience in "nuclear space energy" to China, with whom it had been collaborating on a lunar mission.
Borisov said that “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”.
He said that nuclear power may power future lunar settlements, but solar panels would not be able to supply enough electricity.
“This is a very serious challenge…it should be done in automatic mode, without the presence of humans,” he said of the possible plan.
Borisov also mentioned Russian aspirations to construct a cargo spacecraft powered by nuclear energy. He said that, with the exception of figuring out how to cool the nuclear reactor, all technical issues related to the project had been resolved.
According to Borisov “We are indeed working on a space tugboat. This huge, cyclopean structure that would be able, thanks to a nuclear reactor and a high-power turbines…to transport large cargoes from one orbit to another, collect space debris and engage in many other applications,”
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.
Last year, Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft spun out of control and crashed, making its first lunar trip in 47 years 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 base.
China declared last month that it intended to send a Chinese astronaut to the moon by 2030.
Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, denied last month that Moscow intended to launch nuclear weapons into space, calling the American threat a ruse to force Russia to enter arms talks on the terms set out by the West.
