Two medium-sized lunar rovers weighing up to 500 kg, as part of the Luna-30 mission, will begin exploring the surface of the lunar pole in order to select a site for the construction of an international scientific station. This was announced by Denis Kutovoy, Deputy Director of the Department of Space Systems of Roscosmos, speaking at the "Team of the Future" forum at the Moscow Aviation Institute.
We will choose the pole. The next spacecraft will land at the pole, and there, through mobility, it will explore not only the landing point, the subsurface layer, but will travel tens of kilometers, explore the surface, the subsurface layer, and choose a more specific place for the formation of a lunar base.
As a reminder, according to Sergei Chernyshev, Vice President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the launch of three spacecraft, Luna-28, Luna-29, and Luna-30, will take place in 2032–2036. The Luna-30 mission will be part of the program to create an International Scientific Station on the Moon.
Earlier, in May 2025, Roscosmos and the China National Space Administration formalized their intentions to build energy infrastructure for the station. In parallel, Rosatom specialists propose using compact nuclear power plants on the Moon that can autonomously provide the facility with energy for at least 10 years.
