BEIJING: Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved a plan to jointly build the International Lunar Research Station with China, an ambitious space project previously announced by the two close neighbors.
The document related to the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) was published on Russia's official legal information portal on Wednesday, Russia's state-run Sputnik news agency reported.
Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration program, said in April this year that the ILRS will consist of a segment on the lunar surface, a segment in lunar orbit and a segment on Earth, and will be built in two phases.
According to Wu, the first phase of the ILRS construction project will build a base station in the south pole region of the Moon by 2035. The station will be expanded in the second phase, which is targeted for completion by 2045, the official Xinhua news agency quoted Wu as saying.Sergei Savelyev, deputy director general for international cooperation at Russian state space agency Roscosmos, said about 12 more countries and international organizations have signed up to the ambitious initiative, according to a report in China's state-run Global Times.
Earlier in March, the Russian government had submitted a bill in the lower house of parliament to ratify the agreement with China. The ratification comes just days after China's Chang'e-6 probe flew past the lunar surface earlier this month carrying remotely collected samples of the moon.
This was the first attempt of its kind to collect soil from this little-explored area and is currently returning to Earth with samples.
The Chang'e-6 probe, which consists of an orbiter, a lander, an ascender and a returner – like its predecessor Chang'e-5 – was launched on May 3.During his visit to China last month, Putin talked about 'very interesting' plans for joint moon exploration with China.
In March 2021, Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos and China's National Space Administration signed a memorandum of mutual understanding on behalf of their governments on working together to build the International Lunar Research Station.
“As far as moon exploration is concerned, we and our friends among the Chinese researchers have some plans. These are capital-intensive projects, but they are very interesting and very promising,” Putin was quoted as saying by Russian news agency TASS during his visit to the Chinese city of Harbin.
It said the first lunar mission is scheduled for 2026 and the project should be completed in 2028.In early March, Roskomsos CEO Yuri Borisov announced that Russia is considering exploring and installing a nuclear power unit on the surface of the Moon together with China "at the turn of 2033-2035."
The document related to the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) was published on Russia's official legal information portal on Wednesday, Russia's state-run Sputnik news agency reported.
Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration program, said in April this year that the ILRS will consist of a segment on the lunar surface, a segment in lunar orbit and a segment on Earth, and will be built in two phases.
According to Wu, the first phase of the ILRS construction project will build a base station in the south pole region of the Moon by 2035. The station will be expanded in the second phase, which is targeted for completion by 2045, the official Xinhua news agency quoted Wu as saying.Sergei Savelyev, deputy director general for international cooperation at Russian state space agency Roscosmos, said about 12 more countries and international organizations have signed up to the ambitious initiative, according to a report in China's state-run Global Times.
Earlier in March, the Russian government had submitted a bill in the lower house of parliament to ratify the agreement with China. The ratification comes just days after China's Chang'e-6 probe flew past the lunar surface earlier this month carrying remotely collected samples of the moon.
This was the first attempt of its kind to collect soil from this little-explored area and is currently returning to Earth with samples.
The Chang'e-6 probe, which consists of an orbiter, a lander, an ascender and a returner – like its predecessor Chang'e-5 – was launched on May 3.During his visit to China last month, Putin talked about 'very interesting' plans for joint moon exploration with China.
In March 2021, Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos and China's National Space Administration signed a memorandum of mutual understanding on behalf of their governments on working together to build the International Lunar Research Station.
“As far as moon exploration is concerned, we and our friends among the Chinese researchers have some plans. These are capital-intensive projects, but they are very interesting and very promising,” Putin was quoted as saying by Russian news agency TASS during his visit to the Chinese city of Harbin.
It said the first lunar mission is scheduled for 2026 and the project should be completed in 2028.In early March, Roskomsos CEO Yuri Borisov announced that Russia is considering exploring and installing a nuclear power unit on the surface of the Moon together with China "at the turn of 2033-2035."
