China offers to collaborate on lunar mission as deadlines loom
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[October 03, 2023]
BEIJING (Reuters) - China, which aims to become a major
space power by 2030, has opened up a key lunar mission to international
cooperation as mission deadlines loom for setting up a permanent habitat
on the south pole of the moon.
China welcomes countries and international organizations on its uncrewed
Chang'e-8 mission and to jointly carry out "mission-level" projects, the
China National Space Administration (CNSA) said at the 74th
International Astronautical Congress in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Monday.
Mission-level projects mean China and its international partners could
launch and operate their spacecraft, conduct spacecraft-to-spacecraft
"interactions", and jointly explore the surface of the moon, according
to details announced on CNSA's website.
International partners are also welcome to "piggyback" on the Chang'e-8
mission and independently deploy their own modules once the Chinese
spacecraft lands, CNSA said.
Interested parties must submit a letter of intent to CNSA by Dec. 31.
Final selection of proposals will come in September 2024.
The Chang'e-8 mission will follow the Chang'e-7 in 2026, which also aims
to search for lunar resources on the moon's south pole. The two missions
will lay the foundations for the construction of the Beijing-led
International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) in the 2030s.
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China, which deployed an uncrewed probe to the moon on the Chang'e-5
mission in 2020, plans to send an uncrewed Chang'e-6 probe to the far
side of the moon in the first half of 2024 to retrieve soil samples.
China aims to land astronauts on the moon by 2030.
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China's national flag flutters at a business district in Beijing,
October 29, 2015. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo
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China's timeline to build an outpost on the south pole coincides
with NASA's more ambitious and advanced Artemis program, which aims
to put U.S. astronauts back on the lunar surface in December 2025,
barring delays.
On the 2025 Artemis 3 mission, two U.S. astronauts will land on the
lunar south pole, a region previously unvisited by any human. The
last time a human set foot on the moon was in 1972 under the U.S.
Apollo program.
The crewed Artemis 4 and 5 missions are planned for 2027 and 2029,
respectively.
NASA is banned by U.S. law from collaborating with China, directly
or indirectly.
As of September, 29 countries - including India, which landed a
probe near the moon's south pole in August - have signed the Artemis
Accords, a pact crafted by NASA and the U.S. State Department aimed
at establishing norms of behavior in space and on the lunar surface.
China and Russia are not signatories of the agreement.
China, for its own lunar station program, has secured participation
from only Russia and Venezuela so far.
(Reporting by Ryan Woo. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
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