Roscosmos’ Sergey Savelyev Announces Twelve Nations Join Russian-Chinese Lunar Station Initiative

Sergey Savelyev, Deputy General Director for International Cooperation at Roscosmos, announced that twelve nations and international organizations have signed onto the ambitious Russian-Chinese initiative to construct the International Scientific Lunar Station (ISLS).

This announcement came during a plenary meeting at the State Duma on Tuesday.

“As of now, twelve countries, including the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Pakistan, Belarus, Türkiye, and others, have joined our project with the Chinese,” Savelyev revealed.

The ISLS project, jointly launched by China and Russia in June 2021 in St. Petersburg, aims to establish a comprehensive scientific research base either on the lunar surface or in lunar orbit. This station is intended to support a wide range of scientific research activities such as the exploration and utilization of lunar resources, lunar-based observations, fundamental scientific experiments, technical verifications, and autonomous operations over long durations. The project remains open to participation from all interested countries and international partners.

Yury Borisov, the Head of Roscosmos, previously said on May 16 that both Russia and China plan to expand their lunar activities starting after 2036. He also mentioned earlier in March 2024 that the two nations aim to install a nuclear power plant on the Moon between 2033 and 2035.

Savelyev addressed concerns about potential risks from unfriendly nations joining the project, stating, “As for the possible risk of a split in case our project is joined by unfriendly countries, we do not see such a risk.”

In contrast, the US-led Artemis program involves approximately 40 countries, as described by Savelyev. Primarily composed of EU and other Western nations, the program was launched in September 2020. Its objectives include returning US astronauts to the Moon, more than 50 years after the Apollo missions, establishing a lunar orbital station, and laying the groundwork for potential future colonization efforts.

NASA’s Artemis program is centered around scientific discovery, technological advancement, and the development of skills necessary for living and working on another world, with the ultimate goal of preparing for human missions to Mars. Emphasizing collaboration with commercial and international partners, the program aims to establish a sustained presence on the Moon. Notably, Artemis intends to achieve historic milestones by landing the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon, utilizing innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before.