Vladimir Putin Signs Law to Build Russian-Chinese Base on the Moon

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday signed a bill that commits Russia to work with its partner in tyranny, China, on building a moon base.

China’s state-run Global Times boasted that Russia joined more than 30 other “countries and international organizations” on the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) project, 20 of which have signed agreements of some kind to formalize their involvement.

The Global Times did not name the other partners, although it mentioned that Egypt and Bahrain have signed on to China’s next Chang’e lunar probe mission. Egypt was among the countries that expressed interest when China rolled out its moonbase plan in 2021, along with Russia, Venezuela, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Belarus, South Africa, Thailand, and Nicaragua.

China’s Chang’e-6 unmanned probe landed on the dark side of the moon on June 2 to collect soil samples, making China the fourth nation to achieve a lunar landing after the United States, Japan, and India.

Chinese state media reported the Chang’e-7 launch, the one involving Egypt and Bahrain, is scheduled for 2026 and will survey the Moon’s south polar region. Italy, Russia, Switzerland, Thailand, and a group called the International Lunar Observatory Association have also committed to providing payloads for the Chang’e-7 mission.

After that, China hopes to achieve a manned lunar landing by 2030, lay the foundations of a moonbase near the lunar south pole by 2035, and bring the base online by 2045. The lunar base was envisioned as a springboard for missions to Mars and beyond. The base would ostensibly be constructed using basalt mined from the Moon’s surface.

China has touted its lunar base project as an international endeavor since its earliest public statements. The animated video that introduced the lunar base plan in 2021 depicted a NASA Space Shuttle lifting off from the base.

The Global Times asserted on Thursday that China’s partnership with Russia would decisively take leadership of space exploration away from the fading U.S. space program:

With China’s repeated success in deep space exploration, the prospects for its international cooperation will further expand, Wang Ya’nan, chief editor of Beijing-based Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told the Global Times.

“For one thing, China has, through a series of successful space missions, demonstrated an exceptionally high capability and reliability. This serves as a prerequisite for a good partnership, where richer samples and more ideal scientific results can be better achieved,” Wang noted.

Furthermore, China has always maintained an open and inclusive attitude toward international cooperation, which is rare in today’s complex global landscape, experts said. While the U.S. is busy chanting the “China threat” rhetoric in a so-called space race, China has been walking steadily step by step and produced rich, concrete results, they noted. 

Wang said Russia’s Soviet-era advances in astrophysics and chemistry would blend with China’s advanced technology and massive industrial production capacity to create a synergy that is “greater than the sum of its parts.”

The deal, which Putin signed this week, was negotiated between Russia and China in 2022. The bill was presented as serving Russia’s interests because it would “contribute to strengthening Russia’s strategic partnership with China” and consolidate “Russia’s leading role in the exploration of outer space, including in the exploration and use of the Moon.”

Russia’s Roscosmos space agency and China’s National Space Administration (CNSA) said the joint project would include a base on the surface of the Moon, a space station in orbit, and several rovers to explore the lunar surface. The Russian bill, which Putin signed, restated that China and Russia would lead the project, but it would be open to participation from other nations.

The Roscosmos roadmap for the project envisions a shorter timetable than China’s, projecting that the location would be selected by 2025, construction would begin the following year, and the base would become operational by 2035.