Russia has started developing a nuclear tug " Nucleon "for flights to deep space," Roscosmos "and KB" Arsenal " signed a contract, according to the public procurement website on December 11.
"The subject of the contract — develop preliminary design for creating space complex with the transport-energy module based on nuclear power plants, cipher R & d — "N-up", — stated in the documents.
The value of the contract concluded the day before is more than 4.17 billion rubles. It is planned that it will be executed on July 28, 2024.
The nuclear tug "Nucleon" will be used for flights to deep space. In 2030, it should go on a long flight to study three celestial bodies at once: first the device will dock with the payload module, then it will be sent to the moon, then to Venus and from there to one of the satellites of Jupiter.
According to Alexander Bloshenko, Executive Director of Roscosmos for advanced programs and science, the design of the tug will be a transport and energy module with an open architecture.
Its main features are the ability to independently generate energy from a megawatt-class nuclear reactor for a long time and the ability to transport various payloads, TASS reports.
The signing of the contract until the end of 2020 was reported in September. The first mission of the "Nucleon" is planned for 2030.