BEIJING, Jan 26 (Asia Free Press): Ambassador of Russia to China Andrey Denisov, in a press briefing, has announced that Russia-China inter-governmental agreement on cooperation in establishing a lunar station is actually ready and may be signed shortly after the consensus, reported TASS.
“The agreement is practically ready and it seems that it may be signed quite soon,” the top Russian diplomat said while also recalling that all states had been invited to participate in setting up an international lunar station.
The envoy also pointed out, “As far as I know, agreements on particular researches are in the process of their signing today. Such agreements have been signed with eleven countries and international organisations, including with Russian research organisations”.
The Russian envoy also said, “a certain legal framework in this sphere is alavailable”.
The top Russian diplomat in Beijing also specified that this involved a long-term program of cooperation. The Chinese media earlier reported that the program envisaged unmanned flights, following which a lunar station would begin to be set up in about 2035.
As a whole, Russian-Chinese cooperation in outer space is developing “well and fruitfully,” the ambassador further stressed.
Currently, Russia and China are interacting under a program of cooperation in outer space for 2018-2022. A new five-year program is being prepared to replace it, the ambassador lastly highlighted.
