MOSCOW, May 13-RIA Novosti. The Russian space nuclear tug "Zeus" with a megawatt power propulsion system can be used in the country's air defense system to track aircraft and target weapons, according to the materials of the Research Center. Keldysh (part of Roscosmos), available to RIA Novosti.
As follows from the materials of the research center, the nuclear tug will be able to highlight air targets from orbit, and information about the detected objects will be transmitted to air defense systems.
Depending on the power of the radar equipment (50 or 200 kilowatts), the tug will be able, respectively, to cover a zone with a radius of 2200 kilometers or 4300 kilometers. In the second case, the entire airspace of Russia and part of the space of neighboring states will enter the zone of its operation.
In 2018, the documents of the St. Petersburg enterprise KB Arsenal (the company is part of the cooperation on the creation of a nuclear tug, and is also part of Roscosmos") it was reported that it has completed research work to determine the appearance of the spacecraft based on the transport and energy module. The act of acceptance of the work noted that spacecraft based on the transport and energy module can be used for remote sensing of the Earth and radio-electronic impact, as well as directed energy transmission by laser radiation, communication, broadcasting and retransmission, interorbital cargo transportation.
The creation of elements of a nuclear tug based on a transport and energy module with a megawatt-class nuclear power plant has been underway in Russia since 2010.
In 2019, a mock-up of the tug was presented for the first time at the MAKS International Aerospace Salon, and a three - dimensional graphic of its operation in space was presented at the Army 2020 forum.
In January 2020, in the presentation of the first Deputy Director General of Roscosmos, Yuri Urlichich, presented at the "Royal Readings", it was said about plans to launch a space nuclear tug into orbit in 2030 for flight tests. After that, it is planned to start its mass production and commercial use. According to the contract previously published on the state procurement website, the development of the tug advance project will be completed by July 2024 and will cost 4.2 billion rubles.
It was reported that the nuclear tug will be designed for flights to the Moon and the planets of the Solar system. It was named "Zeus", and the research and development work itself is called"Nucleon".
