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China and Russia announced earlier this week that they have teamed up to build a lunar research station.
Russian space agency Roscosmos said in a statement Tuesday that it had signed an agreement with the Chinese Space Administration (CNSA) for the construction of a “complex of experimental research facilities created on the surface and / or on the orbit of the moon “.
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Roscosmos said the International Lunar Scientific Station (ILRS) will perform “multidisciplinary and versatile research, including exploration and use of the moon, lunar observations, basic 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 statement, the CNSA explained that space agencies “would adhere to the principle of” co-consultation, joint construction and shared benefits “and that ILRS would be open to all interested countries and international partners.
“China and Russia are committed to cooperation in the fields of space technology, science and applications,” CNSA said.
CNSA administrator Zhang Kejian and Roscosmos state-owned company general manager Dmitry Rogozin signed a memorandum of understanding during a video conference on behalf of their respective governments.
The two countries have not set a timeline for the proposal.
The memorandum also referred to the upcoming Chinese Chang’e-7 mission, saying the cooperation would fall within the “framework” of that mission as well as the Russian Luna-Resurs-1 Russian Orbital Spacecraft (OS) mission.
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The Chang’e-7 mission is a probe scheduled to be launched on the moon’s south pole in 2024.
In December, Chang’e-5 returned samples of the moon that have since been exposed, making China the third country after the United States and the former Soviet Union to accomplish such a task.
The Luna-Resurs-1 and Chang’e-7 spacecraft will perform tests and the agencies are ready to analyze the potential for mutual space experiences.
Rogozin also wrote that he had invited Kejian to the Russia’s first modern lunar lander launched Luna 25 in October, according to The Guardian.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of Russia’s first manned space flight in April 1961.
By comparison, China launched its first manned mission in 2003, although the country has since made major strides in space exploration.
China has planned 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 the launch of its Tianwen-1 probe orbiting it. the red planet.
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Russia participates 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 get to the ISS.
The United States plans to see the moon again in a program called Artemis – sending the first woman and the next man there by 2024.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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