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Russia Targets Lunar Nuclear Power Facility by Mid-2030s

Russia has outlined plans to deploy a power-generation facility on the Moon within the next decade to support its lunar exploration ambitions and a planned joint research base with China, as global space powers intensify efforts to establish a long-term presence beyond Earth. According to a statement from Russia’s state space agency, Roscosmos, the proposed facility is expected to be operational by 2036 and will provide energy for lunar missions, including robotic rovers, scientific instruments, and infrastructure linked to the planned Russia–China International Lunar Research Station. While Roscosmos did not explicitly describe the facility as nuclear-powered, it confirmed the involvement of key nuclear institutions, including state-owned atomic energy major Rosatom and the Kurchatov Institute, Russia’s leading nuclear research body. The agency has also signed a contract with aerospace firm Lavochkin Association to advance the project. The initiative comes as Russia seeks to reaffirm its standing in global space exploration. Once a dominant force following Yuri Gagarin’s historic first human spaceflight in 1961, Russia has in recent years lost ground to the United States and a rapidly advancing China. Setbacks such as the failed Luna-25 mission in August 2023—when an unmanned spacecraft crashed during a lunar landing attempt—have underscored the challenges facing Moscow’s space programme. Roscosmos said the lunar power project marks a shift from short-duration missions toward a sustained scientific presence on the Moon. “This is a critical step toward establishing a permanently operating lunar research station and transitioning to long-term exploration,” the agency said. The move also reflects broader changes in the global space race, with private players such as SpaceX reshaping launch economics—an area once dominated by Russian expertise. Roscosmos chief Dmitry Bakanov said earlier this year that deploying a nuclear power source on the Moon is among the agency’s strategic priorities, alongside renewed exploration of Venus, often referred to as Earth’s “sister planet.”