Russia's lunar nuclear power plant should be considered in the context of a larger project: a joint base with China at the south pole of Earth's satellite. The station will provide an entire research team with cheap electricity, which is a huge breakthrough in space exploration, astronautics expert Alexei Anfilogov told the VZGLYAD newspaper.
Earlier, Roscosmos began assembling parts for a nuclear power plant on the moon.
"We are talking about a unique engineering solution. These developments were carried out in the Soviet Union, but a nuclear reactor for satellites was created there in the 1970s. Now we are talking about a much more powerful device," says the interlocutor.
In addition to the Soviet Union, the Americans also have experience in this field. But in the US, due to long-term neglect of the space program, this technology was completely lost.
The main problem in creating a nuclear power plant for an Earth satellite is ensuring complete autonomy of the reactor.
"Russia and China are moving beyond the moon landing. We are talking about creating a permanent base on the Earth's satellite, launching various instruments from them will cost several times less than flights from the surface of our planet. "Exploring the solar system will become cheaper than ever," Anfilogov concluded.
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