Roscosmos’ Director General Yury Borisov disclosed plans for a joint Russian-Chinese nuclear reactor on the moon by 2035, as part of the International Scientific Lunar Station (ILRS).
The head of Russia’s space agency has disclosed information regarding cooperative plans between Beijing and Moscow to place a nuclear reactor on the moon within the next ten years.
To power a potential lunar colony that the two nations would jointly operate within the next ten years, Roscosmos and China revealed intentions to collaborate on the construction of an autonomous nuclear reactor in March.
Director General Yury Borisov of Roscosmos stated two months ago that the organization was considering building the facility using nuclear-powered rockets to deliver cargo to the moon, but that it had not yet figured out how to build these spacecraft safely.
In a statement released on Wednesday by the official news agency RIA Novosti, Borisov stated that the nations were constructing trial and research facilities as part of the project and that the plant’s development was already underway.
Borisov went on to say that the International Scientific Lunar Station (ILRS), which would be made up of multiple modules, will be built and launched in two phases between 2025 and 2035.
Since solar panels cannot store enough energy to run electrical appliances for 14 Earth days during the lunar night, he added, it is critical to establish a dependable, long-term, and long-lasting source of nuclear energy at the moon.
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) and Roscosmos first said in 2021 that they planned to construct the ILRS, stating at the time that it would be accessible to foreign partners.
But because of a downturn in bilateral ties brought about by U.S. sanctions levied against Russia for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it is unlikely that NASA astronauts will be permitted to visit the site, according to Live Science.
Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, Russia and China have strengthened their political and economic connections; however, there has been no indication to date that the project has a military component.
But in March, the think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) claimed that China’s lunar outpost represented a “long-term strategic partnership with Russia to posture against and possibly threaten the West.”
President Joe Biden was pushed by US senators a month ago to reveal details regarding “a serious national security threat,” which included a Russian antisatellite weapon believed to be fuelled by nuclear energy, although Moscow denied possessing such a weapon.
The launch of any space nuclear system must involve “a rigorous, risk-informed safety analysis,” according to a March statement from the U.S. State Department. The U.S., Russia, and China are all members of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.
Recently, GreatGameIndia reported that China’s Chang’e-6 successfully landed on the moon’s far side to collect samples, marking China’s fourth lunar landing and its second on the moon’s far side, according to state media reports.
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