Russia has revealed it has started building a nuclear power plant to be put on the moon as part of its planned joint lunar base with China.
The two countries are collaborating on the International Lunar Research Station, a massive complex on the moon that is set to break ground in 2026.
The proposed base, which will have a radius of nearly four miles, larger than any Disney theme park, will house scientists who will study the moon’s properties.
RIA reported Moscow was planning to deliver and install the plant between 2033 and 2035, Citing Yuri Borisov – the head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos.
In March, Borisov said Moscow was considering the idea of powering the station using nuclear energy, on account of the fact that lunar nights last around 14 Earth days, making solar panels on the surface on the moon less viable as a power source.
Yuri Borisov, the head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos (pictured right with Russian president Vladimir Putin) has said Moscow has started building a nuclear power plant to be put on the moon as part of its planned joint lunar base with China, according to reports in Russia
He said at the time the mission would see two Russian rockets try to reach both the north and south poles of the moon in 2028.
The creation of the International Scientific Lunar Station will unfold in two stages between 2025 and 2035, RIA reported, consisting of several modules.
Speaking in April, Borisov said it would be necessary to create a compact, reliable, durable long-term supply of nuclear energy for the base to operate.
China and Russia have confirmed they had been in talks over ‘outer space security’ and ‘AI weapons’ – while China confirmed in 2022 that it was joining forces with Russia to build the base to rival NASA’s planned Lunar Gateway project.
Russian and Chinese officials met in February to address ‘doctrinal guidelines and initiatives of Russia and China’, reports said at the time.
The countries agreed to further cooperate under the Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) of the States Parties to the Convention on Inhumane Weapons on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS), a UN-backed policy on weapons R&D.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said at the time: ‘The meeting confirmed the closeness of the Russian and Chinese approaches to this issue.
Russia and China are collaborating on the International Lunar Research Station, a massive complex on the moon that is set break ground in 2026 (file image)
In March, Borisov (pictured) said Moscow was considering the idea of powering the station using nuclear energy , on account of the fact that lunar nights last around 14 Earth days, making solar panels on the surface on the moon less viable as a power source
‘It was noted that there is a need for further close cooperation in this area both in the bilateral format and in the relevant multilateral platforms, primarily within the framework of the GGE on LAWS.’
China, meanwhile, added that talks covered ‘outer space security, biosecurity, and artificial intelligence.’
China also announced it was planning on installing an all-seeing surveillance system on the moon to protect a planned lunar base bigger than Disneyland using the technology it uses to spy on its citizens.
The nation wants to use the ‘successful experience’ of its authoritarian Skynet surveillance system to protect the planned base against ‘suspicious targets’, according to a research paper written by scientists at the nation’s space agency that was published in an academic journal.
Skynet is the world’s largest surveillance network, and is used to monitor every nook and cranny of China. With more than 600 million cameras, there is on average one camera for every two adults in the nation.
The news that Russia has started building the nuclear power plant is the latest move by the joint Moscow-Beijing effort in a renewed space race against the West.
Nations are racing for the moon’s south pole and ‘dark side’
The new race is warming up after half a century, with Russia, China and America working to be the first to put humans, robots and even lunar trains on the moon.
The prize is enormous, with resources ranging from ‘rare earth’ minerals used in electronics to Helium-3, a potential energy source which could power a nuclear fusion revolution offering infinite clean energy.
Morgan Stanley has previously suggested that the global space industry could be worth $1 trillion annually by 2040 – and could make Elon Musk (behind the company SpaceX) the world’s first trillionaire.
As Russia and China make plans for their moon base, NASA is planning to put the first woman on Mars in the middle of this decade.
Defense contractor Northrop Grumman is drawing up plans for a railway on the moon to carry goods between bases, with the moon’s south pole believed to hold reserves of water (which can be turned into fuel for spacecraft going to mine asteroids or land on Mars).
NASA has spoken about a ‘lunar gold rush’, with Russia saying that it would launch further lunar missions and then explore the possibility of a joint Russian-China crewed mission.
Rare earth metals – used in smartphones, computers and advanced technologies – are available on the moon, according to research by Boeing.
Helium-3 is a form of the gas helium that is rare on earth, but NASA says there are estimates of a million tons of it on the moon.
Helium 3 could provide nuclear energy in a fusion reactor but since it is not radioactive it would not produce dangerous waste (although so far nuclear fusion is not yet financially viable despite recent breakthroughs).
Most plans for ‘moon mining’ involve robots doing much of the work, overseen by humans either on moon bases or on orbiting space stations.
But the law around who ‘owns’ the moon or its resources is unclear, with more than 80 countries already having a presence in space.
Philosopher AC Grayling writes in his new book Who Owns the Moon?, ‘A space Wild West is coming into existence.
‘The consequences for peace and stability on Earth, already tenuous on conventional grounds … could be, and too likely will be, as petrol on to a fire.’
Water will be an important resource on the moon
The UN 1966 Outer Space Treaty says that no nation can claim sovereignty over the moon, although lawyers say it’s unclear whether a private entity can claim areas.
In 2020, the United States announced the Artemis Accords to establish ‘safe zones’ on the moon – but Russia and China have not joined.
The south pole is being targeted by China as well as NASA, which has identified 13 possible landing sites near the moon’s south pole for the Artemis III which will return humans to the moon.
Just 12 people have ever walked on the moon – all of whom are men, and no one has been to the moon sinceGene Cernan and Jack Schmitt in December 1972.
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