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China, Russia enter MoU on international lunar research station
March 9, 2021
HELSINKI — The heads of the Chinese and Russian space agencies signed a memorandum of understanding Tuesday on cooperative construction of an international lunar research station.
Zhang Kejian, head of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), and Dmitry Rogozin, General Director of Roscosmos, signed the document during a virtual meeting March 9.
The International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) is described as a comprehensive scientific experiment base built on the lunar surface or on the lunar orbit that can carry out multi-disciplinary and multi-objective scientific research activities including exploration and utilization, lunar-based observation, basic scientific experiment and technical verification, and long-term autonomous operation.
Statements from Roscosmos and CNSA underline that the project will be “open to all interested countries and international partners.”
Though not explicitly stated it is understood that the ILRS would be constructed at the lunar south pole.
The releases also state that both sides will use their accumulated experience in space science, research and development and use of space equipment and space technology to jointly develop a road map for the construction of an international lunar scientific research station.
Roscosmos notes the prospect of a human presence on the moon following the robotic phase of the project.
The signing of the agreement had been expected, as reported by SpaceNews in February.
“This MoU fits the larger trend, which is Russia moving into a closer orbit with China,” Bleddyn Bowen, a lecturer in international relations at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom, told SpaceNews in February.
China and Russia have previously signed agreements for cooperation on the Chang’e-7 and Luna 27 missions and a joint data center for lunar and deep space exploration.
The European Space Agency has also been involved in discussions, while recently having signed an MoU with NASA on the Gateway.
“At ESA we are following the Chinese lunar exploration plans very closely in order to see where our respective programmatic interest could meet, primarily the CE-6, -7 and -8 missions but also the ILRS initiative”, Karl Bergquist, ESA’s international relations administrator, told SpaceNews last year.
Chinese, Russia moon plans
The ILRS concept is an evolutionary, expanded stage of Chinese lunar exploration following the approval of a first set of missions in the early 2000s. China has launched two lunar orbiters, a pair of lander and rover missions and, in late 2020, the complex Chang’e-5 lunar sample return mission.
Chang’e-6, a polar sample return mission, and the multi-spacecraft Chang’e-7 are scheduled for around 2023-2024. The later Chang’e-8 mission will be designed for in-situ resource utilization and 3D-printing technology tests, as well as life science related to potential long-term stays on the moon. These missions will form the robotic basis of the ILRS before expansion into a more long term base.
Russia is preparing to launch its Luna 25, Luna 26 and Luna 27 lunar lander missions across the 2020s.
The early stage ILRS would appear to consist of a number of discrete spacecraft, in contrast to a more complex, integrated program such as the International Space Station.
China is also developing capabilities for deep space human spaceflight. In May 2020 China tested a new generation spacecraft and is also developing two separate super-heavy-lift launchers for space infrastructure and crewed missions.
A Chinese space station, with construction to begin as soon as April, is planned to bring China expertise and experience in human spaceflight operations ahead of potential crewed lunar missions.
http://web.archive.org/web/20210311144231/https://spacenews.com/china-russia-enter-mou-on-international-lunar-research-station/
https://archive.is/JQXLF
March 9, 2021
HELSINKI — The heads of the Chinese and Russian space agencies signed a memorandum of understanding Tuesday on cooperative construction of an international lunar research station.
Zhang Kejian, head of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), and Dmitry Rogozin, General Director of Roscosmos, signed the document during a virtual meeting March 9.
The International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) is described as a comprehensive scientific experiment base built on the lunar surface or on the lunar orbit that can carry out multi-disciplinary and multi-objective scientific research activities including exploration and utilization, lunar-based observation, basic scientific experiment and technical verification, and long-term autonomous operation.
Statements from Roscosmos and CNSA underline that the project will be “open to all interested countries and international partners.”
Though not explicitly stated it is understood that the ILRS would be constructed at the lunar south pole.
The releases also state that both sides will use their accumulated experience in space science, research and development and use of space equipment and space technology to jointly develop a road map for the construction of an international lunar scientific research station.
Roscosmos notes the prospect of a human presence on the moon following the robotic phase of the project.
The signing of the agreement had been expected, as reported by SpaceNews in February.
“This MoU fits the larger trend, which is Russia moving into a closer orbit with China,” Bleddyn Bowen, a lecturer in international relations at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom, told SpaceNews in February.
China and Russia have previously signed agreements for cooperation on the Chang’e-7 and Luna 27 missions and a joint data center for lunar and deep space exploration.
The European Space Agency has also been involved in discussions, while recently having signed an MoU with NASA on the Gateway.
“At ESA we are following the Chinese lunar exploration plans very closely in order to see where our respective programmatic interest could meet, primarily the CE-6, -7 and -8 missions but also the ILRS initiative”, Karl Bergquist, ESA’s international relations administrator, told SpaceNews last year.
Chinese, Russia moon plans
The ILRS concept is an evolutionary, expanded stage of Chinese lunar exploration following the approval of a first set of missions in the early 2000s. China has launched two lunar orbiters, a pair of lander and rover missions and, in late 2020, the complex Chang’e-5 lunar sample return mission.
Chang’e-6, a polar sample return mission, and the multi-spacecraft Chang’e-7 are scheduled for around 2023-2024. The later Chang’e-8 mission will be designed for in-situ resource utilization and 3D-printing technology tests, as well as life science related to potential long-term stays on the moon. These missions will form the robotic basis of the ILRS before expansion into a more long term base.
Russia is preparing to launch its Luna 25, Luna 26 and Luna 27 lunar lander missions across the 2020s.
The early stage ILRS would appear to consist of a number of discrete spacecraft, in contrast to a more complex, integrated program such as the International Space Station.
China is also developing capabilities for deep space human spaceflight. In May 2020 China tested a new generation spacecraft and is also developing two separate super-heavy-lift launchers for space infrastructure and crewed missions.
A Chinese space station, with construction to begin as soon as April, is planned to bring China expertise and experience in human spaceflight operations ahead of potential crewed lunar missions.
http://web.archive.org/web/20210311144231/https://spacenews.com/china-russia-enter-mou-on-international-lunar-research-station/
https://archive.is/JQXLF
Readers' commments
From Wikipedia:
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) is a type of agreement between two (bilateral) or more (multilateral) parties. It expresses a convergence of will between the parties, indicating an intended common line of action.[1] It is often used either in cases where parties do not imply a legal commitment or in situations where the parties cannot create a legally enforceable agreement. It is a more formal alternative to a gentlemen's agreement.[2][3]
This MoU will not be worth the paper it is written on as soon as the Chinese realize that they do not need the Russians or their technology to explore the moon. This is a feel good/face saving measure pure and simple for the Russians.
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We'll see. If the Russkies, the Chinese and the Euros fail to match U.S. levels of programmatic idiocy it will probably not be for lack of trying.
The Russians won't prove much help in such a project as they have no money and no future prospect of getting any. They are a veritable fount of big-talk ideas, but they haven't a prayer of being able to fund any of them.
The Euros, for their part, have blown alternately hot and cold on Euro-centric manned space projects for decades and have made a number of long-term bad decisions about launch vehicle development - a streak which continues down to the present and seems likely to continue.
The Chinese seem intent on plowing ahead with various disposable giant rocket projects to which some measure of reusability is to be notionally added "later."
All three, now being at least a solid decade behind the U.S. in key space technologies, seem bent on being two decades behind a decade hence.
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For the U.S. and - thus far at least - China, partners fall more into the "nice to have" than the "need" category. China wants partners for reasons of national image PR.
The Russians are the ones in this picture who actually need partners - being, as they are, and doomed to stay, poor as church mice. As long as the U.S. was a cash cow for Roscosmos, Russia kept its basic surliness moderated. That is less and less in evidence as U.S. remittances diminish toward zero.
The Chinese will find their new Russian "partners" equally obstreperous if, as I think will be the case, only a trickle of Chinese money is forthcoming. It seems unlikely this "partnership" will survive long enough to see even an initial lunar manned landing accomplished.
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I don't agree. ISS was mostly built with Russian / Soviet knowledge.
By now, the U.S. has gained enough experience and knowledge to build and maintain its own space stations (such as the Lunar Gateway) but the Chinese currently lack that knowledge.
It's also the reason the Russians won't be involved with Artemis. We simply don't need them anymore and there's still the Geo-political climate to consider.
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The Lunar Gateway
The Lunar Gateway, or simply Gateway, is a planned small space station in lunar orbit intended to serve as a solar-powered communication hub, science laboratory, short-term habitation module, and holding area for rovers and other robots.[4]
The project is expected to play a major role in NASA's Artemis program, after 2024. While the project is led by NASA, the Gateway is meant to be developed, serviced, and utilized in collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency, European Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and commercial partners. It will serve as the staging point for both robotic and crewed exploration of the lunar south pole, and is the proposed staging point for NASA's Deep Space Transport concept for transport to Mars.[16][11][17]
On 27 September 2017, an informal joint statement on cooperation regarding the program between NASA and Russia's Roscosmos was announced.[13] However, in October 2020 Dmitry Rogozin, director general of Roscosmos, said that the program is too “U.S.-centric” for Roscosmos to participate in.[18] In January 2021 Roscosmos announced that it will not participate in the program.
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In short, by the end of this decade, there will be 2 major Lunar Space Stations, one lead by the U.S., and one by China.
These will of course be 100% manned by robots. Further bases on the lunar underground will also be manned by robots only.
Iran will naturally find a place as a member of the International Lunar Space Station (ILSS), lead by China.
