State Space Corporation Roscosmos (Roscosmos) plans nuclear power plant on the moon by 2036

Key facts

• State Space Corporation Roscosmos (Roscosmos) planned to build a lunar power plant by 2036 and signed a contract with the Lavochkin Association aerospace company to do it.
• The purpose of the plant is to power the infrastructure of the joint Russian-Chinese International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), including rovers and an observatory.
• Project participants include the Russian State Nuclear Corporation Rosatom (Rosatom) and the Kurchatov Institute, Russia's leading nuclear research institute.
• The moon, which is 384,400 km (238,855 miles) from our planet, moderates the earth's wobble on its axis, which ensures a more stable climate.
• The moon also causes tides in the world's oceans.
• Russia's ambitions suffered a massive blow in August 2023 when its unmanned Luna-25 mission smashed into the surface of the moon while attempting to land.