Russia and China are mulling over the installation of a joint nuclear power plant on the lunar surface between 2033-2035, said Roscosmos CEO Yury Borisov, as announced on Tuesday at the World Youth Festival held in Sochi, and as reported by Russia’ News Agency TASS.
According to Borisov, such a mission will have to be automated, and the technological answers are on the cusp of availability.
According to TASS, Russia’s Roscosmos and China’s National Space Administration have been working together to establish a lunar research station by the end of 2035, after having struck an agreement in 2021.
The project entails the creation of multiple lunar landing probes for research, a leaping robot, and smart mini-rovers for studying the moon’s surface.
The project will also establish communications and electrical infrastructures. According to the project’s timeline, China will send three missions to the moon’s surface, including the Chang’e 6 mission, which is scheduled to launch in May.
NASA and the Energy Department are also working on plans for nuclear power on the moon, already having announced contracts with three businesses to assist development of the project with the space agency in 2021. The initiative seeks to build a nuclear power plant on the moon by the early 2030s. NASA officials have also said that communities on the moon’s surface might be established by 2040.