By Guy Faulconbridge
MOSCOW, Dec 24 (Reuters) – Russia plans to put a nuclear power plant on the moon within the next decade to power its lunar space program and a joint Russian-Chinese research station, as major powers rush to explore the world’s only natural satellite.
Ever since Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space in 1961, Russia has boasted a major power in space exploration, but in recent decades has fallen behind the United States and, increasingly, China.
Russia’s ambitions suffered a major blow in August 2023 when its unmanned Luna-25 mission disintegrated on the moon’s surface while attempting to land, and Elon Musk revolutionized the launch of spacecraft – once a Russian specialty.
IS IT A NUCLEAR REACTOR ON THE MOON?
Russia’s state space corporation, Roscosmos, said in a statement that it planned to build a lunar power plant by 2036 and signed a contract with aerospace company Lavochkin Association to do so.
Roscosmos did not explicitly say the plant would be nuclear but said participants included the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom and the Kurchatov Institute, Russia’s main nuclear research institute.
Roscosmos said the purpose of the plant was to power Russia’s lunar program, including rovers, an observatory and the infrastructure of the joint Russian-Chinese International Lunar Research Station.
“The project is an important step towards the creation of a permanently operational scientific lunar station and the transition from one-time missions to a long-term lunar exploration program,” said Roscosmos.
The head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Bakanov, said in June that one of the goals of the corporation was to put a nuclear power plant on the moon and to explore Venus, known as the “sister” planet of the earth.
The moon, which is 384,400 km (238,855 miles) from our planet, moderates the shaking of the earth on its axis, which ensures a more stable climate. It also causes tides in the world’s oceans.
The US also plans a REACTOR ON THE MOON
Russia is not the only one with such plans. NASA in August declared its intention to put a nuclear reactor on the moon by the first quarter of fiscal year 2030.
“We’re in a race to the moon, in a race with China to the moon. And to have a base on the moon, we need energy,” US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in August, when asked about the plans.
He added that the United States was currently back in the race to the moon. He said that energy was essential to allow life to be sustained on the moon and from there for humans to reach Mars.
International rules prohibit the placement of nuclear weapons in space but there is no ban on the placement of nuclear power sources in space – as long as they comply with certain rules.
Some space analysts have predicted a lunar gold rush: NASA says there are estimates of a million tons of Helium-3, an isotope of helium that is rare on earth, on the moon.
The rare earth metals – used in smartphones, computers and advanced technologies – are also present on the moon, including scandium, yttrium and the 15 lanthanides, according to Boeing research.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle and Alex Richardson)