One of the most technologically advanced branches of the Russian industry, nuclear energy, should become Russia's trump card in space for the coming decades. At least, this is the task set by the country's leadership. What will nuclear space systems look like and what advantages will they provide?
On April 16, Vladimir Putin arrived at the Bauman Moscow State Technical University. The program included a visit to the new building, communication with students, and the main task was a meeting on the development of space nuclear energy together with the leadership of Roscosmos and the Kurchatov Institute National Research Center.
The main topic of the meeting is the national space project related to nuclear energy. Back in October 2023, the president spoke about the need to develop a comprehensive, systematic national project in the field of space activities. In other words, this is not a momentary hobby, but a clear strategy that is now ripe for implementation.
It is quite possible that recent personnel changes, including the appointment of a new head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Bakanov, are part of it. At least for now, it all looks like a well-thought-out plan to give a new impetus to the Russian space industry, a goal and resources to move forward.
Exactly what steps the new national space project will include has not yet been disclosed. But it is already clear that he will focus specifically on the field of nuclear energy in space. And yes, with a definite eye to deep space.
As Vladimir Putin said in his welcoming speech, "an important topic is domestic nuclear space energy. Within the framework of the national project, it is necessary to ensure a qualitative step forward in its implementation. I am referring to the creation of electric propulsion systems and other systems necessary for autonomous operation on various space objects."
What do these words of the president mean? Most likely, the project will focus on the development of infrastructure for the use of nuclear energy in near and far space. Russia is a world leader in the terrestrial use of nuclear energy and has exceptional competence in this matter. Accordingly, the main task is to transfer them to space, to make nuclear energy convenient, safe and competitive.
We are used to relying on solar panels in Earth's orbit, but the further we go, the less efficient they become.
Mars, the most promising among the planets, is located further from the Sun and receives much less solar energy, that is, about 60% of what reaches the Earth. Solar panels on Earth can produce 0.175 kW per square meter of battery, but on Mars they can only produce 0.105 kW/m, and this is not counting the constant dust storms that greatly reduce their efficiency.
There is evidence that the Martian base will need about 90 kW per person, given the need to grow plants and generate oxygen, which means that a 12–person mission will require 1080 kW. If you try to do this with solar panels, you get a field of more than 20 thousand square meters, taking into account the illumination of the planet. A megawatt class reactor, compact and convenient enough, can provide the same thing.
There's another problem on the moon. 14 days of continuous night greatly complicate the work, requiring large reserves of energy spent on heating the future base, and all devices operating on the surface. So here, solar panels are not a panacea at all. There is no need to talk about the moons of Jupiter, there is nothing for any automatic station to do there without a permanent powerful energy source.
For all its difficulties, there are currently no other options for generating large capacities in space other than reactors. And the more energy is required in space, the more convenient nuclear reactors will be.
Therefore, the entire infrastructure of the "space atom" is needed. This is not only and not so much a "nuclear tug", which is most often remembered when it comes to space nuclear energy. These are compact reactors for use both in orbit and on the surface of planets or moons. Solutions that can be useful not only for themselves, but also for other international projects: orbital stations, relay stations, interplanetary flights, or even the MNLS, an international scientific lunar station in which Russia participates together with China.
By itself, the concept of a "nuclear tug" also requires a lot of infrastructure to operate – communications, relay, maintenance, management, logistics.
Why does this decision seem so logical? At the moment, we cannot say exactly how astronautics will develop in the coming decades. Will it be the huge growth of unmanned research stations for mining from asteroids, flights to the moon or Mars? No one knows this, not even Elon Musk, who is torn between the Moon and Mars. But what is for sure is that in almost any of the development options, safe, convenient and spent energy sources will be needed. And here it is impossible to do without nuclear space energy.
And in general, when we talk about creating an infrastructure rather than a separate project, it's always a good thing. Nuclear power engineering may become a kind of space specialization of the future for Russia. And if you take it in very large strokes, then "space nuclear scientist" sounds great. The main thing here is to bend your line to the end. To make it so that decades later, without Russian reactors, no one would even think of starting a new space project, to make it the gold standard of the cosmonautics of the future.
Is this a difficult task? Undoubtedly. Realistic? Yes, too, and it is Russia, with its competencies, that has the best chance of mastering and taking over this niche.
If we recall the history of the Soviet Buk reactors for the Legend global marine space exploration system, it does not contradict, but even confirms this thesis. When the Soviet Union needed a powerful power source on a spacecraft that was supposed to operate at night, a nuclear reactor turned out to be the only option.
There are, of course, technical issues that need to be addressed – shielding, cooling, the possibility of recharging in space conditions, the creation of compact fuel assemblies and new coolant options. All these problems will have to be solved in the coming years, and this will require a lot of trained specialists. That is why it is logical that the meeting was held in Bauman, the forge of such personnel.
We can recall the time when some experts pronounced the words "Russia is a space carrier" with contempt, saying that this was not a good thing. And then Musk came along, selected this niche, and it turned out that "Musk is a space coachman" is already cool and modern. So, "the stoker of a nuclear space locomotive" also sounds great.
Mikhail Kotov
