MOSCOW, January 28. /TASS/. Rovers for the lunar station will eventually be able to reach speeds of up to 5 kilometers per hour on flat surfaces (at a climb angle of up to 10 degrees). To transport heavy station modules, the vehicles will travel at a speed of 400 meters per hour, said Mikhail Malenkov, Vice President of the St. Petersburg branch of the Tsiolkovsky Russian Academy of Cosmonautics.

"We plan to transport heavy loads—lunar station modules weighing 18 tons—at a speed of 400 meters per hour. For the lighter version, there will be two speeds. One, up to 1 kilometer per hour, is intended for moving up steep slopes (20-27 degrees, with a natural slope angle of up to 32 degrees). If we’re traveling on a relatively flat surface with a climb angle not exceeding 5-7 or 10 degrees, we might reach 5 kilometers per hour," Malenkov told TASS on the sidelines of the Sergey Korolev Memorial Academic Readings on Cosmonautics.

According to him, scientists were particularly interested in the prospect of placing the station on the Malapert Massif, which is sunlit 91% of the lunar year. The rovers’ tasks will include creating a road along the steep slopes to the point for the subsequent placement of the lunar station. The rover will autonomously determine the required speed depending on the surface slope, as well as the most efficient trajectory.

Currently, this lunar rover concept is at a preliminary design stage. "This is all still on a voluntary basis, <...> essentially, these are our materials for the mission requirements," Malenkov added.

In May 2025, the Roscosmos State Corporation and the China National Space Administration (CNSA) signed a memorandum to cooperate on building a lunar power plant as part of the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) project. Roscosmos reported that the station will conduct fundamental space research and test technologies for long-term unmanned operation, with the potential for human presence on the Moon.