MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russia and China plan to develop a joint international scientific lunar station in two stages starting in 2025. It will include research, power, launch and landing, orbital, experimental modules, a command center, a transmitting satellite, a telecommunications station, and modules for technology verification and observation.

The development of a nuclear power plant, which Russia plans to send to the Moon in 2033-2035 for a joint scientific lunar station with China, has already begun, Russian state space corporation Roscosmos head Yuri Borisov told Sputnik on Wednesday.

“It [the development] has begun,” Borisov said.

Last month, the head of Roscosmos said that Russia, together with its Chinese colleagues, is considering the delivery and installation of a nuclear power plant on the surface of the Moon in 2033-2035. He later clarified that the creation of a nuclear energy source for the operation of a lunar base could be a Russian contribution to this joint project with China.

The lunar bases in focus are China’s Yuegong-1, also known as the Lunar Palace, and Russia’s BIOS-3.

Both are enclosed facilities that are environmentally self-sufficient and can sustain a long-term mission without any external inputs other than power.