Russia has already made an offer to China to create a lunar nuclear power plant
Moscow. June 5th. INTERFAX - Russia is ready to independently create a lunar power plant with a nuclear reactor for the Russian-Chinese project to build an International Scientific Lunar Station (MNLS), partner countries will be able to use its electricity to provide MNLS modules and robotic equipment, Alexander Bloshenko, Deputy Director General of Roscosmos for space Complexes and science, told Interfax.
"The lunar power plant is behind us, the customer of the space system is Roscosmos," Bloshenko said, answering a question about the roles of the Russian Federation and China in this project.
He noted that Russia has already made an offer to Chinese partners to create a nuclear power plant. According to the agency interlocutor, China and other partner countries of the project will be able to use the generated electricity to provide the station modules and robotic equipment.
Bloshenko also said that Roscosmos does not plan to combine projects to create a lunar power plant and a nuclear tugboat Zeus.
"These are two different projects united by the same theme - space nuclear energy. The first project is aimed at creating a planetary power plant, the second is to create an orbital complex with a nuclear tug for a flight into deep space," he said.
On March 3 of this year, Roscosmos CEO Yuri Borisov announced that Russia, together with China, plans to deliver and place a nuclear power plant on the Moon at the turn of 2033-2035. He also announced plans for a joint expansion of the Moon after 2036.
On March 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the creation of a nuclear power plant in space should be funded and special attention should be paid to this topic.
On May 28, Roscosmos Deputy Director General for International Cooperation Sergey Saveliev announced that 12 countries and international organizations had joined the Russian-Chinese MNLS construction project.
In March 2021, the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China signed an intergovernmental memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the field of MNLS creation. On June 16 of the same year, Russia and China presented a roadmap for the construction of a joint lunar base.
On October 2, 2023, the general engineer of the Chinese National Space Administration, Li Gopin, announced that the construction of the MNLS is planned to be completed by 2040.
It was reported that in addition to Russia and China, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Venezuela, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Turkey, South Africa, the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization, and the Swiss company Nano-SPACE are planning to participate in the MNLS project.
The Keldysh Center is developing the Zeus space nuclear installation with a capacity of up to 1 megawatt. According to the General director of the Center, Vladimir Koshlakov, the nuclear tug will be able to operate continuously in outer space for up to 10 years.
On April 26, Borisov announced that the Zeus nuclear tug could be involved in the Russian-Chinese lunar program.
In May 2021, Bloshenko reported that the first sample of the Zeus orbital nuclear installation would be ready by 2030.
