China, Russia to jointly build research station on moon

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - China and Russia on Tuesday announced to work together to build an international lunar research station, Chinese state-run media reported.

The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on the space development, Global Times reported, citing China’s National Space Administration (CNSA).

The deal was signed in a virtual meeting between CNSA Director Zhang Kejian and Dmitry Rogozin, general director of Russia's Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities.

The CNSA statement said the two sides will uphold the principle of joint consultation, construction, and sharing to push forward cooperation on the construction of an international research station on the moon.

And the project will be “open to nations that are interested in the project as well as all partners of the international community,” the statement added.

It said the joint construction aims to enhance scientific exchanges and injects impetus to human’s peaceful exploration and use of space.

“The international lunar scientific and research station will be a comprehensive base for long-term, autonomous experiments, providing a platform that is tasked to enable exploration and use of moon, and a slew of basic scientific experiments and technology verification projects either on the lunar surface or in the lunar orbit,” said the CNSA.

Together, the statement said, the two countries will formulate the roadmap for building the moon station, work closely in planning, design, implementing, and operations of the station, which also includes promoting the project to the international aerospace community.