Speculation about Russian nuclear weapons in space recently flared up. Now Putin is announcing investments in space nuclear power. China is probably on board.
MOSCOW - Vladimir Putin has ordered his state space agency Roscosmos and Rosatom, Russia's federal atomic energy agency, to begin investing in a space nuclear energy program by June 15. The state news agency
TASS
reported this on Thursday (April 11). According to
TASS
, the Kremlin ruler's orders followed
a meeting with his cabinet in which he instructed ministers to release the necessary amounts from the federal budget and allocate them to the project “Development of Nuclear Space Energy in Russia”.
Specifically, this announcement probably refers to a Chinese-Russian nuclear reactor on the moon. Roscosmos Director Yuri Borisov announced the joint project with China's National Space Agency on March 5, 2024. Between 2033 and 2035, Borissov said, they want to install a reactor on the Earth's satellite, autonomously "without the presence of people." The technology required for this is “almost ready”.
Putin orders investments in nuclear power in space - probably related to the moon base
The reactor would probably supply the “International Lunar Research Station” with energy. This is also a Chinese-Russian joint project that should be completed by 2050, as the
Reuters
news agency reports. In addition to research, the base could also serve as a launch site for manned missions to other planets in our solar system. In addition to China and Russia, Venezuela, South Africa, Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Belarus are taking part in the station.
Putin's latest investment announcement comes weeks after the White House said on February 15 that Russia was developing a space-based anti-satellite weapon. The US government only made a grudging statement at the time: Republican Congressman and Chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Mike Turner had previously spoken of a “serious threat to national security” and demanded that President Biden release all information about it.
As a result, speculation ran high, with
ABC News
reporting, citing two anonymous sources, that the threat had to do with Russia's desire to put nuclear weapons into space to use against satellites. When John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council, appeared before the press on February 15, he reassured that the Russian weapon was not operational and could not be used to cause damage on Earth.
Russia, China, USA and GB: A nuclear race into space?
Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin explained, according to the Russian state news agency
TASS
, that Moscow “has always been against and is categorically against placing nuclear weapons in space.” However, neither Russia nor the NATO countries are against using nuclear power in space: NASA and The US Department of Energy announced in June 2022 that it had concluded contracts with three companies to develop compact nuclear reactors for the moon.
The first US reactor is scheduled to be launched into space in the early 2030s and will supply at least one lunar base with energy as part of the Artemis program. The United Kingdom is now cooperating with Rolls Royce to build such a lunar reactor and China was already considering nuclear power on the moon in 2022 without Russia. It seems that a new – nuclear – space race is in full swing.