Russia has unveiled plans to build a colony on the moon within 20 years.

Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos, said: “This is the very important moment for Roscosmos.”

He said the organization was struggling with financial burdens but there was a clear five-year plan that would lead to a new age of space technology.

Anatoly Petrukovich of the Russian Academy of Sciences said: “A trip to Mars with the current state of space travel technology is too complicated.

“The moon, therefore, is a much more logical goal.”

“The project we are experimenting with is for the long-term habitation by humans. It is about a colony on the surface of the moon.”

He was referring to a previous program drafted by Roscosmos in 2014 that put forward the idea of a three-stage lunar project that attracted hundreds of applications from aspiring astronauts.

The three stages involved the creation of a module orbiting the moon, followed by the landing of workers involved in the construction of the base and finally the establishment of a lunar colony that among other things will maintain a telescope on the dark side of the moon.

Work could start as soon as 2025, according to a statement by Yevgeny Mikrin, head designer at the country’s space program.

The final plans will be completed by next year.