Roscosmos, Russia's federal space agency, said the purpose of the nuclear power station on the moon would be "long-term power supply to consumers (moon rovers, observatory) of the Russian Lunar programme, as well as infrastructure facilities of the International Lunar Research Station (including facilities of foreign partners)".

NASA and the US Department of Energy (DOE) said they have recently signed a memorandum of understanding to solidify their collaboration and advance the "vision of American space superiority" set out in an Executive Order signed by US President Donald Trump on 18 December.

The researchers say that, regardless of the purpose and scenario of the mission, a reliable source of energy is needed for successful exploration of the Moon.

The FSP project is sponsored by NASA in collaboration with the Department of Energy (DOE) and Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to establish a durable, high-power, sun-independent power source for NASA missions on the moon by the end of the decade, as well as potential subsequent missions.