China, Russia unveil joint plan for lunar space station

China has sought closer partnership with Moscow and started a successful space programme of its own.

An independent analyst specializing in China’s space programme, Chen Lan said that this joint lunar space station is a big deal.

“This will be the largest international space cooperation project for China, so it’s significant,” Chen said.

Russia's space chief Dmitry Rogozin, turned to twitter and wrote that he invited CNSA chief, Zhang Kejian to the launch of country’s first modern lunar lander, Luna 25.

The launch is scheduled for October 01.

The CNSA said that the project was open to all interested countries and international partners in China’s biggest international space cooperation project to date.

Russia was once at the forefront of space travel as first-ever crewed space flight into space in 1961.

By contrast, the US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) sent its first crewed flight into space in 1968 which means Moscow has lagged behind both Washington and Beijing in the exploration of the moon and Mars in recent years.

In 2020, China launched its Tianwen-1 probe to Mars that is currently orbiting the Mars.

Last year in December, the country successfully brought rock and soil samples from the moon back to earth which was the first mission of this type in more than 40 years.