China and Russia Sign Deal to Build Lunar Nuclear Power Plant by 2036

China and Russia have agreed to build a nuclear power plant on the Moon that will be ready to be built by 2036, in a giant leap for their shared lunar ambitions. The reactor will power the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), a joint Chinese-Russian effort to set up a permanent outpost on the Moon's south pole. The news comes after the United States suffered budgetary setbacks that might scrap the Artemis program's proposed lunar orbital base, which the U.S. had planned to be in 2027.

China–Russia Lunar Base Plan Advances with Robotic Reactor Build as U.S. Moon Program Stalls

As per a statement from Roscosmos issued on May 8, the Russian space agency, the power station is intended to run autonomously and support long-duration lunar operations. Roscosmos Director General Yury Borisov stated in an earlier TASS interview that the technology enabling automated reactor construction without human presence is nearly ready. The project forms a key part of a broader Chinese-Russian space roadmap stretching through 2050, eventually supporting manned Mars missions.

The ILRS will begin with robotic assembly between 2030 and 2035, involving five super-heavy-lift rocket launches. It will be powered by a mix of solar, radioisotope, and nuclear systems. Wu Yanhua, chief designer of China's deep space program, noted that the base would also integrate a high-speed lunar communication network, pressurised rovers, and orbit-to-surface connections. Additional modules at the Moon's equator and far side will be added later to complete the extended station model.

So far, 17 countries have signed on to the ILRS initiative, including nations such as Venezuela, Pakistan, Egypt, and South Africa. China's Chang'e-8 mission in 2028 is expected to lay the groundwork by landing the country's first astronaut on the lunar surface. The U.S. Artemis III moonshot, meanwhile, remains pushed back until at least 2027 and under increasing pressure as other spacefaring nations ramp up operations and growing ambiguity about an internal funding shortfall.

NASA's Gateway station, the central piece of its plans to return to the moon, is in jeopardy after a budget proposal this year that suggests it could be cancelled in 2026. While the modules on the station have already taken shape, the reprioritisation indicates the U.S. could be ceding the longtime lead it has enjoyed in deep space exploration to an increasingly united coalition of spacefaring nations.