China and Russia have planned to conduct five joint missions to place modules in orbit and on the surface of the moon as part of the creation of the Russian-Chinese International Scientific Lunar Station (ISLS), according to an official agreement published on a Russian government portal on Thursday.
The document notes that the creation of the ISLS is planned to be realised in three phases. The first phase involves the study of the moon by planned national missions and the development of technology for safe soft landing on the surface of the Earth’s natural satellite. During the second phase, the parties will start joint operations – cargo delivery and creation of modules in orbit and on the moon’s surface.
The purpose of the third phase is “to explore the moon, verify technologies, and assist international partners in the human landing on the moon.”
Moscow and Beijing are inviting international partners to take part in the construction of the lunar station – Russian state corporation Roscosmos and the China National Space Administration will sign separate bilateral agreements for this purpose. The document reads:
“This agreement is valid for 20 years. Its validity is automatically extended for subsequent 5-year periods, unless either party notifies the other party in writing through diplomatic channels of its intention to terminate this agreement at least one year before the expiration of the initial validity period or the expiration of any subsequent validity period.”
The agreement was signed on November 25, 2022 and entered into force on July 18.
