Russia and China are holding preliminary talks about building a testing ground on the Moon as part of their joint International Lunar Research Station project, according to Anatoly Petrukovich, director of the Space Research Institute (IKI) of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Petrukovich told the Russian state news agency TASS that the proposed site could serve as a landing and launch point for spacecraft, as well as an area for building up the lunar infrastructure needed to support future missions.
He said such preliminary discussions were currently underway, including with Chinese counterparts, as part of a Russian-Chinese agreement on cooperation in creating the International Lunar Research Station.
What is the International Lunar Research Station
The International Lunar Research Station is a joint Russian-Chinese program to build a permanent, uncrewed and eventually crewed research base on or around the Moon. Roscosmos, Russia's space agency, and the China National Space Administration have positioned the project as an alternative to NASA's Artemis program, and have invited other countries to join.
Petrukovich also said crewed flights to the Moon could resume by the end of the 2020s. He added that by 2035 it might be possible to create what he described as something "semi-permanent" on the lunar surface, a facility where work could be carried out on a systematic, ongoing basis.
Earlier plans for a lunar base
Margarita Levinskikh, scientific secretary at the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a doctor of biological sciences, has previously said Russia plans to grow wheat and tomatoes at a future lunar base.
Lev Zeleny, who heads Russia's lunar program and serves as scientific director of IKI RAS, has also remarked that private American companies have already begun the process of exploring and developing the Moon.
No timeline was given for when construction of the proposed Russian-Chinese testing ground itself might begin.
