Washington: China and Russia have agreed to collaborate on building and operating a robotic scientific outpost on the moon or in lunar orbit, the China National Space Administration announced.
The agency said the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on the joint effort to build an “international lunar research station.” CNSA and the Russian space Roscosmos are still working out details of the station’s planning, design, construction and operations.
A image from a panoramic camera aboard the lander-ascender combination of Chang’e-5 spacecraft after it landed on the moon. Credit:AP
“Both nations want to open the station to international cooperation so it can serve as a platform to boost scientific exchanges and foster peaceful exploration and development of outer space,” the statement said.
Harry Kazianis, a senior director at the Washington, DC-based public policy think tank Centre for the National Interest, said an “authoritarian alliance in space” should worry the United States.
“This mirrors what China and Russia are doing on sharing weapons technology, economic ties and more,” Kazianis said.
“Both nations see space as the next great power battleground. By working together, they can try and blunt any US advantages in this domain of the future.”
A statue of an angel fixed atop the Alexander Column at the Palace Square is silhouetted on the rising full moon in St. Petersburg, Russia.Credit:AP
General John W. “Jay” Raymond, US Space Force chief of space operations, said last month the US is concerned with cyberthreats that China and Russia are continuing to develop.
“It’s something that we have to protect against today,” Raymond said. “That’s why the establishment of the US Space Force is so important. We are purposely built to stay ahead.”
