Details of China’s lunar station revealed as project expands with a dozen new partners

Deep space conference in China told that by 2050, ILRS will expand into research network at south pole, equator and far side of moon

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By 2050, the China-led moon base will be a network of research facilities at the moon’s south pole, equator and far side, according to senior space official Wu Yanhua. Image: China National Space Administration

Published: 4:59pm, 9 Sep 2024Updated: 4:22pm, 25 Sep 2024

Chinese space officials revealed new details about the construction of the ambitious International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) as a dozen more partners joined the project last week.

The China-led moon base will be capable of conducting scientific research operations within a 100km (62 mile) radius of the lunar south pole by 2035, according to Wu Yanhua, chief designer of China’s major deep space exploration programme.

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By 2050, the ILRS will expand into a network of research facilities at the moon’s south pole, equator and far side.

A Tiangong-like space station in lunar orbit will serve as the Earth-moon transport hub, Wu said during the Deep Space Exploration Conference (Tiandu Forum) in Huangshan, Anhui province, on Thursday.

First proposed by China and Russia in 2017, the ILRS initiative aims to establish an expandable platform for scientific research and resource use on the moon, featuring long-term autonomous operations with short-term human participation.

Often seen as a rival to the US-led Artemis Programme, the project has received “widespread attention and positive responses” according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA). Dozens of state and sub-state entities have already signed cooperation agreements to work with China on the ILRS.

On Thursday, Senegal became the latest country to join, following commitments to take part from Russia, Venezuela, Belarus, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, South Africa, Egypt, Nicaragua, Thailand, Serbia and Kazakhstan.