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Has China turned away from Russia in joint race to the moon?
- Senior Chinese space scientist’s presentation at global astronautical congress in Baku leaves out Russian role in joint lunar research mission
- Omission not a surprise given Russia’s poor performance in space in recent years, some analysts say
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Ling Xinin Ohio
Russia’s moon missions have disappeared from China’s latest blueprint for the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), a project jointly initiated by the two countries to build a base near the lunar south pole.
China and Russia would each send half a dozen spacecraft to complete the moon base, according to earlier proposals. However, the missions to be conducted by Russia were missing from the presentation given by a senior Chinese space scientist at this week’s International Astronautical Congress in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Yu Dengyun, deputy chief designer of China’s lunar exploration programme, spoke about the goals and construction strategy of the ILRS on Monday. But the mission profile he presented only included future Chinese launches – the Chang’e 4, 6, 7 and 8, and those to fly on board China’s heavy-lift rockets after 2030.
All partner missions, which appeared side by side with the Chinese ones in previous presentations, were left out.
These include the Luna-25, which crashed into the lunar surface in August during a manoeuvre to lower the spacecraft’s orbit in preparation for landing, as well as three follow-up launches – the Luna 26 to 28 – planned by the Russian space agency Roscosmos for 2027 to 2030.
Missions previously expected to launch using Russia’s Angara heavy-lift rockets for the main construction phase of the ILRS were also missing from Yu’s presentation slide.
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