China, Russia planning nuclear power plant on Moon

With the ongoing wars in Ukraine and in Gaza sharpening the geo-political divide between the US-led West and the China-Russia axis, the recent close collaborations being planned by the latter bloc in cutting-edge military technology make for interesting reading.

On Tuesday, the head of Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency, Yuri Borisov announced that Russia and China were collaborating on a plan to set up a nuclear power plant on the Moon in 2033-2035.

“Today, we are seriously considering a project, somewhere at the turn of 2033-2035, for the delivery and installation of a power plant on the lunar surface with our Chinese colleagues,” Borisov said during a world youth festival in Moscow.

He added that it would be done “automatically, using robotic means”.

In March 2021, Russia and China had inked an intergovernmental MoU to set up an International Lunar Research Station, a road map for which was presented on June 16, 2021.

Interestingly, a top-level Russian delegation recently visiting Beijing has discussed cooperation and collaboration in detail on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems in the area of military application of artificial intelligence