On 9th March, 2021 Russian space agency “Roscosmos” signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China National Space Administration (CNSA) for jointly creating an International Lunar Scientific Research (ILSR) Station,built on the lunar surface and/or on the lunar orbit.
- With regard to this project, Zhang Kejian, administrator of the CNSA signed an memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Russian space agency Roscosmos, chief Dmitry Rogozin.
Funtions of the ILSR Station:
It will carry out scientific research activities such as the lunar exploration and utilization, lunar-based observation, basic scientific experiment and technical verification.It which will be open for all countries.
Co-operation between Russia and China:
i.Russia will be cooperating with China for technical possibilities of long term unmanned human operation at moon.
ii.Upcoming Lunar probes- Russia’s Luna 27, planned for 2025 and China’s Chang’e-7 planned for 2024, both will be surveying the lunar south pole.
iii.ILSR station, can be used by any country & will serve as an alternative to the International Space Station (ISS), where Russia was also a founding member.
Note- International Space Station (ISS) launched in 1998 was developed by 5 space agencies: NASA, Roscosmos, JAXA (Japan), ESA (EU), and CSA(Canada).
Famous Space Mission by Russia & China:
Russia-
- In 1957, Soviet Union became the 1st country to launch “Sputnik 1” a satellite into space.
- In 1961, Russian Astronaut, Yuri Gagarin became the 1st human to journey into outer space.
China-
- In 2019, China became the 1st Country to send a rover to the farter side of the moon.
- In 2020, China’s 1st unmanned Interplanetary mission “Tianwen-1” (Means ‘Questions to Heaven’), is in a parking orbit around Mars, if this project succeeds, then China would become only the second country after the U.S. to put a spacecraft on Mars.
- In 2020, China’s unmanned “Chang’e 5 mission” returned to earth with samples from the Moon.
Other Similar missions:
- United Arab Emirates (UAE) has decided to send an unmanned spacecraft named ‘Rashid’ to the moon in 2024.
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) plans to send the next man and first woman to the lunar surface by the year 2024 through ‘Artemis’ program
Recent Related News:
i.China successfully launched ‘Yaogan 33R’, a new remote sensing satellite from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China into space. The satellite was sent into orbit by a Long March-4C(Y35) rocket.
About Roscosmos:
Chief – Dmitry Rogozin
Head Quarter – Moscow, Russia
About China National Space Administration (CNSA):
Administrator – Zhang Kejian
Head Quarter – Beijing, China
