Borisov: Russia will use a nuclear tug in a joint project with China

Director General of Roscosmos Yuri Borisov said that Russia will use the nuclear tug Zeus in a joint project with China.

“We are going to practice it by 2030 [ядерный буксир] implement. This is one of the products that will help in the expansion of the moon, we are going to use it in a joint project with China,” Borisov said at the educational marathon “Knowledge. First” (quote according to TASS).

The head of the state corporation also said that the PRC is interested in domestically produced rocket engines. According to him, in China “they really want to get them and figure out how they are made in order to repeat them.”

Formerly Borisov informedthat partners from Asian, African and even European countries are ready to cooperate with Russia in space. He noted that Moscow would not self-isolate on this issue.

Borisov stressed that space should be out of politics. “This cooperation should be developed with all those countries who want and can work with us,” said the head of Roscosmos.

In the middle of April Borisov toldthat the corporation is considering using Zeus to clear orbits of space debris. According to the director, with the help of a tug it is planned to either dispose of space debris or take its fragments further from the Earth’s orbits. He noted that “Zeus” will act as an additional function to scientific tasks.

On December 10, 2020, Roskosmos and its Arsenal design bureau signed a contract for the development of a preliminary project – a scientific study that justifies the implementation of a new development – a nuclear tug for deep space flights. The cost of the agreement amounted to more than 4.17 billion rubles, and the end date was July 2024.

The creation of elements for a nuclear tug began back in 2010, and in 2019 its first mock-up was shown at the International Aviation and Space Salon MAKS-2019. A year later, at the Army-2020 forum, they showed a three-dimensional graphics of the tug in space.