Russia and China are considering putting a nuclear power plant on the Moon within the next ten years.
A spokesperson in Moscow said that Russia and China had been jointly working on a lunar programme and that Moscow was able to contribute with its expertise on "nuclear space energy."
Russian officials have spoken before of ambitious plans to one day mine on the Moon, but the Russian space programme has suffered a series of setbacks in recent years.
Meanwhile, China said last month it aimed to put the first Chinese astronaut on the Moon before 2030.
Russia and China want to put a nuclear power plant on the Moon
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Head of Russia's space agency Roscosmos Yuri Borisov said: "Today we are seriously considering a project - somewhere at the turn of 2033-2035 - to deliver and install a power unit on the lunar surface together with our Chinese colleagues.
"This is a very serious challenge...it should be done in automatic mode, without the presence of humans."
Borisov said that nuclear power could provide enough electricity to power future lunar settlements, something that solar panels may struggle to do. He added that he plans to build a nuclear-powered cargo spaceship, saying that all the technical questions concerning the project had been solved apart from finding a solution on how to cool the nuclear reactor.
He added: "We are indeed working on a space tugboat. This huge, cyclopean structure that would be able, thanks to a nuclear reactor and high-power turbines...to transport large cargoes from one orbit to another, collect space debris and engage in many other applications."
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Yuri Borisov with President Vladimir Putin
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Russia's first moon mission in 47 years failed last year after Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft spun out of control and crashed.
Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin last month dismissed a warning by the United States that Moscow planned to put nuclear weapons in space as false.
The Russian president said it was a ploy to draw Russia into arms negotiations on the West's term.
US House Democrats are currently investigating Elon Musk's company SpaceX over whether it was doing enough to prevent Russia from utilizing Starlink satellite internet service as part of Moscow's ongoing war against Ukraine.
Roscosmos Director General Yuri Borisov
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In a letter to the company, the two Democrats said Ukrainian intelligence officials’ allegations that Russian military forces used Starlink's terminals in eastern Ukraine were alarming and that the deployment could violate US sanctions.
Starlink terminals provide high-speed internet connection and were rushed in to help Ukraine after Russia's February 2022 invasion, proving vital to Kyiv's battlefield communications.
The Kremlin has denied that its troops use Starlink, a subsidiary of Elon Musk-owned SpaceX.
Representatives for SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment on the letter, first reported by The Washington Post.
