Kazakh Plan To Join Chinese-Led Moon Base Would Strengthen Space Partnership | Space

A new agreement for Kazakhstan to join Chinese-led plans to build and operate a research base on the moon could set the stage for deepening cooperation between the two countries as Beijing makes strides toward becoming a leading power in space.

The July 3 agreement was signed on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit and admitted Kazakhstan as the 12th member of the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), a Chinese-led initiative with Russia’s Roskosmos for a lunar base that was announced in 2021 and includes Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Serbia, Pakistan, South Africa, Thailand, and Venezuela.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a joint statement that, as part of the deal, Beijing and Astana would “support exchanges and cooperation between the two countries’ aerospace agencies…in the peaceful use of outer space” and to “promote mutually beneficial cooperation in the moon and deep space.”

The Kazakh Digital Development, Innovation, and Aerospace Industry Ministry revealed new details of this cooperation on August 5, saying that Beijing and Astana would explore the commercial use of each other’s spaceports and Kazakhstan would also be part of the development and launch of a lunar telescope project.

The addition of Kazakhstan bolsters China’s lunar exploration plans and puts the Central Asian country on a trajectory to further…