China and Russia announced earlier this week that they had partnered to build a lunar research station.
Russian space agency Roscosmos said in a statement on Tuesday that it had entered into an agreement with the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) to build a “complex of experimental research facilities on the surface and / or in the orbit of the moon.”
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Roscosmos said the International Scientific Lunar Station (ILRS) would “ conduct multidisciplinary and multipurpose research, including the exploration and use of the moon, lunar observations, fundamental research experiments and technology verification with the possibility of long-term unmanned operation with the prospect of a human presence on the moon. “
In its own release, CNSA explained that the space agencies would “adhere to the principle of ‘co-determination, joint construction and shared benefits'” and that the ILRS would be open to all interested countries and international partners.
“China and Russia are committed to cooperation in space technology, science and applications,” said CNSA.
CNSA administrator Zhang Kejian and general manager of Roscosmos State Corporation Dmitry Rogozin signed a memorandum of understanding on behalf of their respective governments during a video conference.
The two countries have not established a timeline for the proposal.
The memorandum also referred to China’s upcoming Chang’e-7 mission, saying that the collaboration would fall within the “scope” of that mission, as well as Russia’s Luna-Resurs-1 Russian Orbital Spacecraft (OS) mission.
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The Chang’e-7 mission is a probe expected to be launched to the south pole of the moon in 2024.
In December, Chang’e-5 brought back samples from the moon that have since been on display, making China the third nation after the US and the former Soviet Union to accomplish such a task.
The Luna-Resurs-1 and Chang’e-7 spacecraft will conduct tests and the agencies will analyze the potential for inter-space experiments.
Rogozin also wrote that he had invited Kejian to the launch of Russia’s first modern lunar lander Luna 25 on October, according to The Guardian.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the very first manned space flight in Russia in April 1961.
In comparison, China launched its first manned mission in 2003, although the country has made great strides in space exploration since then.
China has scheduled four manned missions this year to work on its first permanent space station in orbit and the country has already launched two smaller experimental space stations and plans to land a rover on Mars in the coming months after its Tianwen-1 probe into orbit. the red planet.
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Russia is a participant in the International Space Station (ISS) with the United States – The New York Times notes that US law prohibits NASA from cooperating with Beijing – and Soyuz rockets were once the only way to reach the ISS .
The US plans to revisit the moon in a program called Artemis – sending the first woman and the next man there by 2024.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.