Russia, China want to build ‘international’ moon station

Russia and China plan to work together to build a moon research station. In an ad marked by Ars Technica, the two countries said they would collaborate on an “International Lunar Science Station”. There aren’t many details on the project yet, but Roscosmos, Russia’s national space agency, suggests it could include facilities both orbiting the moon and on its surface. It will also be open to other nations to join.

China and Russia were the two countries that were notably absent from NASA’s Artemis agreements. Announced in October, the agreement aims to create a model of peaceful, cooperative and transparent exploration of the Moon. Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin said the Lunar Gateway, a space station NASA plans to build orbit around the moon as part of Project Artemis, was too “US-centric.” This is despite the fact that NASA and Roscosmos have collaborated productively for decades on the International Space Station and the same agreement that made the ISS possible will govern the lunar gateway. Rogozin then left open the possibility for the two space agencies to work together again, but with Roscosmos in partnership with China, the chances of that happening seem much less likely.