MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/. The prospect of mineral-resource extraction on the Moon will require decades of technological development and may only become a reality by the end of the 21st century, cosmonautics historian Alexander Zheleznyakov said in an interview with TASS.

"I think it will be in the 21st century, if not at the very end, before we approach the issue of mining some resources on the Moon’s surface. It’s simply not technically feasible any earlier," Zheleznyakov noted.

According to him, to begin developing and extracting resources on other celestial bodies, it is necessary to create appropriate technologies and means of transportation. This necessitates the establishment of a base on the surface and development of semi-automatic and automatic robots to work on the lunar surface. "This isn’t a quick process, it will take not just a few years, but decades," the expert emphasized.

Nevertheless, work is currently underway to launch spacecraft to explore the Moon and Venus, the cosmonautics historian recalled. The launch of the Luna-26 orbiter is planned for 2028, and the Venera-D program, part of the Space national project, envisages the launch of a lander, a balloon probe, and an orbital vehicle by 2036.