While the US has its sights largely set on Mars, Russia says it plans to conquer the moon.
The nation is hoping to launch a lunar probe in 2024 to scout out colony locations, before landing humans on the moon in 2030.
According to Russian news agency TASS, work has already begun on building the Luna 25 lander that will pave the way for human exploration.
Roscosmos is also developing the Angara-A5V heavy-lift carrier rocket to sent parts for a human base to the moon.
Overall, Russia will complete the moon mission using six separate launches of the upcoming Angara rocket.
Each launch will send a new module to the moon, created the base piece by piece, in a similar way to how the ISS was put together.
Assembly of the moon base is expected to take more than ten years, and Roscosmos says it will eventually serve as a permanent settlement.
Russia’s first manned flight to the moon is possible a year earlier, in 2029, according the head of Russia’s state-controlled Rocket and Space Corporation Energia had predicted.
Vladimir Solntsev, president of RSC Energia, which is 38 per cent owned by the Russian state, made the predictions at a space technology conference in Moscow in October.
Currently Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft, which are built by RSC Energia, are the only vehicles capable of sending humans into space.
Nasa has been relying upon the system to send its astronauts to the International Space Station along with regular supplies of cargo.
In a statement posted on the RSC Energia website, Mr Solntsev said: ‘The high-priority line of activities for Russian manned programs in the next 10 to 20 years is lunar exploration.
‘Russia develops a new-generation advanced transportation spacecraft, in the nearest future development of other elements of the lunar program will also begin.’
The new spacecraft, dubbed the Angara-A5V heavy-lift carrier rocket, is expected to be built using composites specifically designed for lunar missions.
Russia has never landed a human on the moon and plans to do so drawn up in the 1960s were never completed after NASA’s Apollo moon landings.
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