Five African countries may join with Russia and China in building a nuclear reactor near the south pole of the Moon, Business Insider Africa reports June 25. The article names the five African nations: Senegal, Egypt, Ethiopia, South Africa, and Djibouti, although it adds that this has still to be fully confirmed.
The five nations would be participating in one of the most productive and exciting projects of the next quarter of a century: the building of the China-led International Lunar Research Station, near the Moon’s south pole. Chinese scientists Yuduo Shen and Wei Wang, from the Lunar Engineering and Space Engineering Center of the China National Space Agency, write: “The International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) represents a significant milestone in lunar exploration. It is a jointly-implemented, scalable, and maintainable facility with functions like power supply, communication, and scientific research. The ILRS adheres to principles such as peaceful utilization and shared benefits. Its objectives cover technological leaps, scientific research on lunar geology, and resource utilization.” Construction on the ILRS will start some time about 2030. The ILRS will include research and astronomy observation stations, helium-3 mining operations, places for human habitation, and so forth. Many of the structures will be built by robotics, as well as with some human participation.
On April 23, at a China National Space Agency forum in Shanghai, the nuclear component was added to power the ILRS’s operation. Wu Wiren, chief designer of China’s lunar exploration program, stated, “An important question for the ILRS is power supply, and in this, Russia has a natural advantage, when it comes to power plants, especially sending them into space, it leads the world, it is ahead of the United States,” reported Reuters on April 23. China and Russia indicate that they intend to complete the lunar nuclear reactor by 2035.
