China and Russia have reached an agreement for the construction of a nuclear energy plant on the Moon.
A cooperation contract signed by China and Russia affirms that the Russian reactor will promote the International Lunar Research Station (Ilrs), which is jointly directed by China and Russia and is expected to end in 2036, reported that Space.com.
The news was made shortly after NASA announced a budget proposal for 2026 that would eliminate the agency’s advanced orbital plans.
According to a 2024 interview with Yury Borisov, general director of the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos, at the Russian state news site TasselThe construction of the Chinese-Ruso reactor will probably be completed autonomously “without the presence of humans.” Although it is still not clear exactly how this can be achieved, Borisov declared that the technology steps are “almost ready.”
“The station will carry out fundamental space research and trial technology for the long -term operations of the ILR, with the perspective of the presence of a human being on the moon,” Roscosmos declared in a notice published on May 8 after the memorandum was signed.
Egypt, Pakistan, Venezuela, Thailand and South Africa are among the 17 nations that have joined the initiative so far. The new research station is a permanent and manned lunar colony located in the South Pole of the Moon. The mission of China Chang’e-8 of 2028, the first of the country to land a man on the moon, will lay the foundations for it.
China and Russia said in June 2021 that they will use five super -heavy rocket releases between 2030 and 2035 to raise the components for a robotic moon base as part of the Ilrs program.
