Dmitry Bakanov, Director General of the state corporation “Roscosmos“, said that the initiative of Russia and China to create an International Scientific Lunar Station is being actively implemented and that to date 13 countries have joined the project. This was said during a meeting of the heads of the space agencies of the BRICS countries.
During his speech, Bakanov said that in addition to Russia and China, cooperation within the framework of this project is also being carried out with Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bolivia, Venezuela, Djibouti, Egypt, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Senegal, Serbia, Thailand, Ethiopia and the Republic of South Africa.
We will recall that last year Vladimir Putin signed a law ratifying an agreement with the Chinese government on cooperation in creating a lunar station. The agreement itself on the creation and operation of a station for the study and use of the Moon was concluded between Moscow and Beijing in November 2022.
According to Roscosmos, Russia, together with China, plans to deploy a nuclear power plant on the lunar station, the development of which is already underway. After the development is completed, the installation will be tested on Earth, and its sending to the Moon is planned for 2036. In addition, the plans for the station include the construction of a nuclear power plant on the surface of the satellite of our planet.