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The heads of the Chinese and Russian space agencies on Tuesday signed an agreement to work together to build a ‘scientific’ station on the Moon.
Under a memorandum of understanding, the two countries will work together to create an “International Lunar Science Station” and plan to invite other countries to participate. The agreement was signed by Zhang Kejian, director of the China National Space Administration, and Dmitry Rogozin, head of the Russian space corporation Roscosmos. The deal was announced by Roscosmos.
Details of the project were rather sparse, specifying only that the countries would work together to create research facilities on the surface and / or in orbit around the Moon. The aim was both to establish long-term, unmanned facilities on the Moon, as well as to build the capabilities for a human presence there.
China had earlier announced its ambitions to build an international lunar station at the south pole of the moon, starting with robotic missions, followed by short-term human missions in the early 2030s. The country plans to establish a long-term human presence in the South Pole during the period from 2036 to 2045 – which presumably contains large reserves of water ice – these plans were initially discussed during the meeting of the subcommittee of the Peaceful Committee. Use of outer space last year, and reported by Space News.
Previously, the European Space Agency also expressed interest in working with China on future missions to the Moon.
Artemis Agreements
This most recent announcement comes after the United States, under new President Joe Biden, confirmed that it would continue with the Artemis plan to return NASA astronauts, and that of partner agencies, to the Moon for some time in the 2020s. send. NASA also wants to establish a lunar base and assess the viability of the water resources at the South Pole.
As part of this reconnaissance plan, NASA established the “Artemis Accords”, a series of bilateral agreements with space agencies in other countries seeking to join the Artemis program. In essence, partner countries must agree to ten basic norms as part of their space activities, such as working transparently and releasing scientific data. Several countries have already signed up, and more are expected to follow.
Russia was noticeably absent at the signing of these agreements. The country has worked successfully for more than two decades with the US and other international partners in the construction and operation of the International Space Station in a low-earth orbit. Rogozin, however, criticized the Artemis agreement as too “US-centric”.
This latest agreement between Russia and China suggests that the lasting relationship that NASA and Roscosmos have enjoyed for decades could reach a breaking point when it comes to the depth of space. And while the term “space race” is certainly a cliché, it is nonetheless what NASA and its partners with China and Russia find if they are to return to the moon.