Russian state-owned aerospace giant Roscosmos said it plans to build a lunar power plant by 2036. Roscosmos has signed a contract with the aerospace company Lavochkin Association to implement this plan.
Roscosmos did not specify whether the plant would be a nuclear power plant, but said the participants included Russian state nuclear giant Rosatom and the Kurchatov Institute - Russia's leading nuclear research institute.
Roscosmos said the plant's purpose is to provide energy for Russia's lunar exploration program, including autonomous robots, observation posts and infrastructure of the Russia-China International lunar Research Station.
This project is an important step towards creating a permanent lunar science station and converting it from individual missions to a long-term lunar exploration program, said Roscosmos.
However, in June, Roscosmos head Dmitry Bakanov revealed that one of the group's goals is to plant a nuclear power plant on the Moon and explore the Golden Star - the "sister" planet of the Earth.
The Moon, 384,400km from Earth, plays a role in reducing the Earth's fluctuations around its axis, ensuring a more stable climate. The moon also causes tides in the world's oceans.
Since Soviet space traveler Yuri Gagarin became the first person to fly in space in 1961, Russia has always been a leading power in the field of space exploration, but has been surpassed by the US and China in recent decades.
Russia's space program suffered a major shock in August 2023 when the Luna-25 unmanned mission crashed into the Moon's surface in an attempt to land. Meanwhile, American billionaire Elon Musk has revolutionized the launch of space vehicles, which used to be a strength of Russia.
Russia is not the only country planning to develop a nuclear power plant on the Moon. In August this year, NASA announced its intention to plant a nuclear reactor on the Moon in the first quarter of fiscal year 2030.
We are racing to the Moon, racing with China to the Moon. And to have a base on the Moon, we need energy, said US Secretary of Transport Sean Duffy. He said that energy is an essential factor to maintain life on the Moon, then help bring people to Mars.
International regulations prohibit the placement of nuclear weapons in space, but there is no ban on placing nuclear power sources in space if certain regulations are followed.
Some space analysts have predicted a rush to find precious metals on the Moon. NASA said that there are an estimated 1 million tons of Helium-3 on the Moon - a counterpart of the rare heli on Earth.
According to Boeing's research, rare earth metals, used in smartphones, computers and advanced technologies, are also present on the Moon, including scandium, yttrium and 15 lanthanide elements.
