Serbia to cooperate on project of Russian-Chinese lunar station too

Russia and China are actively implementing the initiative for the creation of the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), stated the general director of Roscosmos, Dmitry Bakanov. According to him, 13 countries, including several member-states of the BRICS organization, but also Serbia, have already joined this project.

Bakanov discussed this topic at the meeting of the heads of the space agencies of the member-states of the BRICS. Among the countries cooperating on the project are Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bolivia, Venezuela, Djibouti, Egypt, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Senegal, Serbia, Thailand, Ethiopia and the Republic of South Africa, as reported by Kommersant, citing TASS.

In June 2024, the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, signed the law on the ratification of the agreement with China on the joint construction of the ILRS. The agreement had been signed in November 2022 and it provides a basis for cooperation in the development and use of the lunar station for peacetime purposes, for science and research.

Roscosmos earlier announced that Russia and China planned to send a nuclear energy unit, currently developed, to the station. According to the plan, the facility will first be tested on Earth, and a launch to the Moon is expected after 2036.

Also, within the long-term plans, the construction of a nuclear power plant on the surface of the Moon is planned as well, which would be one of the key steps toward a constant human presence and energy autonomy on the Moon.

International Lunar Research Station

ILRS

Roscosmos

Dmitry Bakanov

Vladimir Putin

construction of nuclear power plant on the Moon