China, Russia eye lunar outpost

China and Russia will work together to build and run a robotic research outpost on the moon, a senior space official said on Friday.

Wu Yanhua, deputy director of the China National Space Administration, said at a news conference in Beijing that China's next two lunar missions－Chang'e 6 and 7－and Russia's planned programs will be tasked with not only fulfilling scientific exploration but also carrying out comprehensive surveys to prepare for the "international lunar research station" program.

The preparation stage is scheduled to take about five years, he said.

"After that, we plan to spend about 10 years to build the station. The facility should have power, communication, navigation, long-distance transport, Earth-moon travel and Earth-based support systems,"Wu said. "And if there will be humans (living in the station) in the future, it will also need a life-support system."

The program will be a massive, long-lasting platform for international scientific cooperation and will be open to all countries, international organizations as well as scientists and engineers after its scheduled completion around 2035, Wu said.

The heads of the China National Space Administration and Russia's State Space Corporation Roscosmos signed a memorandum of understanding on joint efforts to build the lunar research station in March 2021.

Both sides agreed to negotiate on matters concerning the station, and will work together to build and run it.

According to mission planners at the space administration, China's Chang'e 7 lunar probe is set to conduct a thorough investigation of the moon's south pole while Chang'e 6 is expected to bring samples from the south pole back to Earth.