Kovalchuk told Putin about the technologies needed to conquer deep space

Mikhail Kovalchuk, President of the Kurchatov Institute National Research Center (NRC), told Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Russian leader's visit to Bauman Moscow State Technical University on April 16 about the technologies needed to conquer deep space.

"Now, as for deep space. Deep space, I think these are the stories of this very [American billionaire and founder of SpaceX corporation Elon Musk <..> Slogans are an important thing, but you can't fly anywhere on a liquid rocket. <...> It is necessary to put a station on the moon, to test and adjust everything there. And from there, it's like a jump airfield," he said.

Kovalchuk added that Russia surpasses the United States in the technology of creating nuclear reactors powered by hydrogen. According to him, this is enough to create an interplanetary tugboat. In addition, the President of the National Research Center proposed a new "atomic space project 2.0" with an emphasis on the independence of the Russian Federation in near-Earth space.

"If we take near—Earth space, we have everything in it - we are absolutely out of competition. We need to create a pre-planetary hub station in order to explore the moon," he said.

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Earlier in the day, Putin noted that an expedition to Mars is an ambitious task, but there are a number of issues that need to be resolved. The President added that Russia is an attractive partner for other countries in deep space exploration.