China and Russia to launch lunar space station

Moscow – Russia and China unveiled plans on Tuesday for a lunar joint space station, while Moscow seeks to recapture the glory of its Soviet-era innovations, and Beijing prepares its side ambitions. outside her own.

While Moscow was once at the forefront of space travel – it sent the first one into space – its cosmic ambitions have declined thanks to poor funding and endemic corruption.

It has been introduced by China and the United States, which have gained great advantages in place exploration and research in recent years.

Russian space agency Roscomos said in a statement that it had signed an agreement with the China National Space Administration (CNSA) to “create a complex of experimental research facilities created on the surface and / or in orbit. the moon. ”

The CNSA, for its part, said the project was “open to all interested countries and international partners” in what experts said would be China’s largest international space cooperation project. so far.

Moscow is trying to take the lead in the space race.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the first Russian spacewalk – it launched Yuri Gagarin into space in April 1961, followed by its first lady, Valentina Tereshkova, two years later.

The United States space agency NASA launched its first space mission a month after Russia, in May 1961, put Alan Shepard aboard the Mercury-Redstone 3.

But Moscow has lagged behind both Washington and Beijing in the study of the moon and Mars in recent years.

Meanwhile, China – which has sought a closer partnership with Moscow – has launched its own successful space program.

Last year, they launched their Tianwen-1 probe to Mars that is currently orbiting the red planet.

And in December, he successfully brought rock and earth samples from the Moon back to Earth, the first mission of its kind in more than 40 years.

Chen Lan, an independent analyst specializing in the Chinese space program, said the lunar space station was “a big concern. ”

“This is the largest international space collaboration project in China, so it’s important,” Lan said.

Roscosmos leader Dmitry Rogozin wrote on Twitter that he had invited CNSA leader Zhang Kejian to launch Russia’s first modern lunar dictator, Luna 25, scheduled for October 1 – the first lunar dictator launched by Russia since 1976.

The US space agency NASA has now set their sights on Mars, with their Perseverance fans last week making their first test flight on the planet.

NASA finally plans to carry out a human mission to the planet, even though design is still at a very early stage.

Moscow and Washington are also collaborating in the space sector – one of the few remaining areas of cooperation between Cold War rivals.

However, Russia did not sign the U.S.-led Artemis Accord last year for countries wishing to participate in a NASA-led lunar exploration scheme.

Under the Artemis program announced at the time of the inauguration of former US President Donald Trump, NASA plans to take the first and next woman on the moon by 2024.

In another blow to Russia’s space reputation, Roscosmos last year lost its monopoly for flights to the International Space Station (ISS) after the US company Space X’s first successful mission.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has become a major player in the modern space race and has announced plans to fly several members of the public to the Moon in 2023 on a mission controlled by a Japanese millionaire.

The prototype SpaceX Starship exploded after it landed in Texas in March, after climbing to a height of 10 kilometers. The test trip was part of the company’s ambitious project to bring humans to Mars.