A photo of the moon taken by SpaceIL’s Beresheet spacecraft in orbit.
SpaceIL
Russia and China are making plans to continue their geopolitical relationship, this time in space with the construction of a new lunar station.
The country’s space agencies, Russia’s Roscosmos and China’s National Space Administration, signed a “memorandum of understanding” on Tuesday on behalf of those governments, signing a commitment to create a new monthly space station.
According to a statement, the International Lunar Research Station will be “a base of comprehensive scientific experiments, with the ability to operate on a long-term autonomous basis, built on the lunar surface and / or the lunar orbit.”
They will conduct “multi-disciplinary and multi-objective” scientific research activities, such as monthly exploration and “use”, moon-based observation and scientific experiments, they added.
Both countries will work together on the planning, design, development and operation of the station. No date has been indicated for when the project could start or be completed.
China and Russia are no strangers to space cooperation and seek to build on this relationship. They noted that there have been previous agreements to cooperate on other projects, including China’s Chang’e-7 mission (a planned robotic lunar exploration mission expected to be launched in 2023 or 2024) and a joint lunar space exploration data center. and deep.
Roscosmos and CNSA said they would “facilitate extensive cooperation in the ILRS,” saying it would be “open to all interested countries and international partners, strengthen scientific research exchanges and promote peaceful exploration and human use of outer space.”
The strengthening of ties between Russia and China, both on Earth and in space, continues a trend that has emerged in recent years. That deep-seated alliance, which is spanning growing economic, military and political cooperation, has led even Chinese President Xi Jinping to call his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin “best friend” in 2019, in a unusual manifestation of warm relationships.
This thriving geopolitical friendship has emerged as their relations with the US have deteriorated in recent years, however, with US sanctions on Russia and billions of dollars worth of US tariffs on Chinese imports, implemented under the former president. Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, competition in the space arena has not diminished since the so-called “space race” of the mid-20th century, which saw rivals in the Soviet Union and the United States compete in missions to launch and advance space technology and knowledge.
There are newcomers to the space exploration and commercial space travel industry, such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX company, which now conducts regular crew and cargo missions for NASA and other organizations at the International Space Station. To date, SpaceX has made 23 visits to the ISS.
However, space exploration veterans are still important players. NASA also plans to return to the moon in 2024, with its Artemis program that includes plans to land the first woman and next man on the moon’s surface. It would be the first monthly landing since the last Apollo monthly mission in 1972.