A nuclear reactor on the moon installed by Russian and Chinese robots. The new frontier of “borderless cooperation” promised by Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping targets a plan that is anything but science fiction. “We are seriously thinking about the project” and we could implement it by 2035, revealed Yuri Borissov, the director of the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
Already in 2021, Moscow and Beijing had announced a cooperation plan to establish a permanent research station at the lunar south pole with cosmonauts and taikonauts (as the Russians and Chinese call their men and women on space missions) and a fleet of rover movements. According to the Tass agency, work on the Chinese-Russian lunar base is expected to begin around 2030. “And now we are thinking about bringing a nuclear power plant to the moon together with our Chinese colleagues, which will be commissioned between 2033 and 2035,” Director Borisov said yesterday.
There is a precedent for using nuclear energy in space missions: According to NASA, on a few dozen trips, Americans have used plutonium-238 as a source of energy to power computers and other scientific equipment. The Russians have used more radioactive material to power lighthouses in remote places on Earth.
Putting a nuclear reactor on the moon, having robots install it and turn it on also suggests possible military use. Last month, anonymous Washington officials revealed to the New York Times that the Russians had developed a nuclear weapon that would be used in space to destroy satellite networks set up by Western countries and block their communications. Moscow denied this.
Borissov, giving a lecture to Russian students, said: “Of course space should be free of nuclear weapons.” The director of Roscosmos has also served as deputy defense minister in the past.
Why place a nuclear reactor on the moon? Borisov explained that solar panels could not provide enough energy to allow men (and women) to populate the satellite and live and work on permanent bases. Only nuclear power can guarantee a stable energy supply.
Moscow's plans also include the construction of a nuclear-powered spacecraft: “We are working on a tug, something big, Cyclops, which, thanks to nuclear propulsion, would have the power to transport large loads from one orbit to another and to collect space debris.” and in one engage in a variety of activities. There is still a significant problem, admitted Director Borisov: Russian scientists have not yet managed to solve the problem of cooling the reactor.
Moscow's ambitions should not be underestimated. During the Soviet era, Russian scientists surprised the world and beat the United States with their Sputnik, launched into Earth's orbit in 1957; In 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first person to fly into space. But landing on the moon is still a difficult operation: last year, the Luna-25 lander launched by Roscosmos crashed onto the lunar surface during the very delicate descent phase. It was a setback for the Kremlin's new dreams of outstanding glory.
And China's new space expertise, combined with its impressive ability to invest enormous sums in astral travel, could have an impact on this area. Beijing entered the race late, in 1993, but has made it forward: in 2003, Yang Liwei was celebrated as the first taikonaut, probes and rovers were sent to the Moon and Mars, and the station will be in permanent orbit around the Earth from 2021 Tiangong (meaning “Heavenly Palace”). Xi Jinping has proclaimed that the nation's “eternal dream” is to make the People's Republic of China a space power.
The Beijing space agency has planned 100 launches in 2024. Two will employ cosmonauts, two will dock at Tiangong Station for refueling and upgrades, the Chang'e 6 expedition will take a robot to the far side of the moon, the hidden one that the Chinese were the first to reach in 2019. The Lander has a romantic name: Lanyue, which means “Embrace of the Moon” and comes from an ancient poem from the Tang era. And new long-range missiles are being tested for the first time.
The old Russian experience, the new Chinese prowess coupled with its economic clout could create a new lunar axis in competition with the United States, which wants to build a lunar base with astronauts through its Artemis program. And NASA scientists are also studying the use of nuclear energy for their missions. But despite the climate of a new Cold War, the conflict over Ukraine and sanctions against Russia, it is important to remember that Moscow and Washington have not burned the bridges of cooperation in space: just yesterday three American astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut arrived at International arrived at the space station aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft that launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday.