The Keldish Research Center announced that it has started the development of the Zeus space nuclear tug with a megawatt-class power plant, Russia Beyond reports.
Zeus is designed to generate enough power to transport heavy cargo through deep space. It is essentially a mobile nuclear power plant that provides enough energy for the engine. This in turn ensures rapid movement within the solar system.
Spaceships currently rely on solar energy or gravity on other planets to accelerate. However, this slows down the journey into deep space for years.
In October 2020, Andrei Ionin, a corresponding member of the Russian Tsiolkovsky Academy of Cosmonautics, said that Russia could catch up with the United States on the lunar program if it built a nuclear tug.
Earlier, Roscosmos CEO for Advanced Programs and Science Alexander Bloshenko said Roscosmos plans to sign a contract involving the development of the nuclear spacecraft Nucleon, which will be launched to one of Jupiter’s moons in 2030. .
However, many are skeptical of Moscow’s plans. Examples include the failed development of a super-heavy rocket to fly to the moon, the delay of the Federation spacecraft and the decades-long problems with the ISS space module for the ISS. Russia has not launched a mission into deep space since 2011.
However, there are good nuclear specialists in the country. Moscow already has a nuclear-powered missile. Thus, making a nuclear space tug may be easier for Russia than constructing a super-heavy rocket.
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