KALUGA. April 14 (Interfax) - Russia is creating a nuclear space tug called Zevs (Zeus) which will be able to push inactive geostationary satellites into deep space in order to keep near-Earth space "clean", Roscosmos chief Yury Borisov said.
"We have an idea for also using this tug for cleaning [up satellites], at least at geostationary and highly elliptical orbits, or moving them away into deep space to get them out of the way," Borisov said during a talk for students of specialized higher education institutions at the Tsiolkovsky International Space Film Festival on Friday.
"We must think about our future use of outer space, and ensure that it is environmentally clean for future generations," he said.
It has been reported that Russia is developing a nuclear space propulsion system with a capacity of up to one megawatt. The project has been dubbed Zevs.
Roscosmos Executive Director for Science and Long-Term Programs Alexander Bloshenko said on May 22, 2021, that the first production unit of the Zevs nuclear-powered orbital station will be ready by 2030.
On April 5, Vladimir Koshlakov, the general director of the Keldysh Center (the developer of Zevs), said the tug would be capable of operating in space continuously for up to ten years.
Nuclear power has been used in space projects before. Between 1970 and 1988, the Soviet Union launched 32 spacecraft with thermoelectric generators, and a nuclear-powered rocket engine was designed and tested in Semipalatinsk in the 1960s-1980s.