Russia is reportedly planning to establish a manned lunar program and a power plant on the moon over the next decade as part of a joint Russian-Chinese research center.
Since Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space in 1961, Russia has sought to assert itself as a leader in space exploration. However, in recent decades, it has fallen behind the United States and China. Its ambitions suffered a setback in August 2023 when the unmanned Luna-25 lander crashed while attempting to land on the moon.
Russia’s state space corporation, Roscosmos, said it plans to build a lunar power plant by 2036, under a contract signed with the Lavochkin Union Space Company. The plant is intended to support Russia’s lunar exploration program, which will include a rover, an observatory, and infrastructure for the joint Russian-Chinese International Lunar Research Station.
While Roscosmos did not explicitly confirm that the plant would be nuclear, it noted the involvement of Russia’s state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, and the Kurchatov Institute, the country’s leading nuclear research institute.
