What are the space nuclear engines that Putin emphasized developing?

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that the development of space nuclear engines is an area in which Russia has unique competencies and qualifications. But this project needs additional funds.

Putin assigned Russian government ministers to work on developing a space nuclear engine and to ensure financing for this project. He said that it is necessary to benefit from it because it forms a basis for implementing the tasks that will be solved in the future using these technologies.

It is noteworthy that Russia is in the process of developing several projects related to sending nuclear engines to Earth's orbit. For example, since 2010, the nuclear space tug "Zeus" has been developed. Roscosmos had previously announced its intention to launch it into Earth's orbit for testing. 4.2 billion rubles have been allocated for the implementation of this project.

As for the Director General of the Roscosmos Foundation, Yuri Borisov, he announced at the beginning of this March that Russia and China are studying the possibility of transporting a nuclear energy unit to the moon in early 2030.

Experts surveyed by the RBK newspaper said that the use of such space nuclear units on the moon is considered one of the effective ways to supply energy to lunar missions.

However, CNN announced that Russian nuclear space technology is still under development, and nuclear-fueled space platforms have not yet been sent into Earth's orbit.

It is noteworthy that Russian President Vladimir Putin held a government meeting on March 14, where he discussed with the ministers the issue of developing and financing the project of space platforms operating with nuclear fuel.