Shanghai: Preliminary plans on the establishment of an international station on the Moon include construction of a nuclear reactor, Deputy Director of the China National Space Administration (CNSA) Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center Pei Zhaoyu disclosed on Wednesday.

According to Namibia Press Agency, an international conference on the future international lunar station is being held in Shanghai on Wednesday. During his presentation, Pei Zhaoyu emphasized that future energy security on the Moon could be ensured through various means, including solar energy, space reactors, and fuel elements.

The International Lunar Research Station is planned to be established by 2035, with significant developments expected in the coming decade. In December 2024, Russian state space corporation Roscosmos announced plans to deliver a nuclear energy facility to the lunar station between 2033 and 2035.

China's lunar exploration program, known as Chang'e, is structured in several phases. These phases include orbiting the Earth's artificial satellite, landing on the Moon, and returning to Earth. The first lunar satellite, Chang'e-1, was launched in 2007 and operated until 2009. The data it collected enabled Chinese scientists to create, among other achievements, the first heat map of the Moon. China aims to send astronauts to the Moon by 2030 to conduct scientific research.