Author: Guy Falconbridge
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia plans to build a nuclear power plant on the moon within the next decade to support its lunar space program and a joint Russian-Chinese research station, as major powers race to explore Earth’s only natural satellite.
Russia has prided itself as a leading nation in space exploration since Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space in 1961, but in recent decades it has fallen behind the United States and increasingly behind China.
Russia’s ambitions suffered a huge blow in August 2023 when its unmanned Luna-25 mission crashed into the lunar surface while trying to land, with Elon Musk revolutionizing spacecraft launches – once Russia’s specialty.
Is that a nuclear reactor on the moon?
Russian state space company Roscosmos said in a statement that it plans to build a lunar power plant by 2036 and signed a contract with Lavochkin Association aerospace company.
Roscosmos did not explicitly say the plant would be a nuclear power plant, but said participants included Russia’s state nuclear company Rosatom and Russia’s leading nuclear research institute, the Kurchatov Institute.
Roscosmos said the factory is intended to power Russia’s lunar program, including lunar rovers, observatories and infrastructure for the joint Russian-Chinese International Lunar Research Station.
“This project is an important step towards the creation of a permanently operating scientific lunar station and the transition from one-time missions to long-term lunar exploration plans,” Roscosmos said.
Roscosmos head Dmitry Bakanov said in June that one of the company’s goals is to build a nuclear power plant on the moon and explore Venus, known as Earth’s “sister” planet.
Located 384,400 kilometers (238,855 miles) from Earth, the Moon moderates the wobble of the Earth’s axis, ensuring a more stable climate. It also causes tides in the world’s oceans.
The United States also plans to build a reactor on the moon
Russia is not the only country with such plans. NASA announced in August this year that it intends to build a nuclear reactor on the moon by the first quarter of fiscal year 2030.
“We are in a race to the moon with China. In order to build a base on the moon, we need energy,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in August when asked about the plans.
He added that the United States is currently lagging behind in the race to the moon. Energy will be critical to sustaining life on the moon and for humans to reach Mars, he said.
International rules prohibit putting nuclear weapons in space, but they do not prohibit putting nuclear energy sources in space—as long as they comply with certain rules.
Some space analysts predict a lunar gold rush: NASA says the moon has an estimated one million tons of helium-3, a rare helium isotope found on Earth.
Rare earth metals used in smartphones, computers and advanced technology are also present on the moon, including scandium, yttrium and 15 other rare earth metals, according to Boeing research.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle and Alex Richardson)
