Professor from Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center CNSA, director of the International Cooperation Department of the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory (DSEL). He will be speaking on International Lunar Research Station: Cooperation Approach and Roadmap.
The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP), is also known as the Chang’E Project after the Chinese Moon goddess Chang’E. It is an ongoing series of robotic Moon missions by the China National Space Administration. The first flight of the program, Chang’E-1 occurred on 24 October 2007, and the most recent was Chang’E-6 on 3 May 2024. The year of 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of CLEP. These advanced missions have successfully orbited the Moon, landed on the near and far side of the Moon, operated rovers along the Moon’s surface, and returned samples to Earth from the near and far side of the Moon. Chang’E-7 and Chang’E-8 are already being planned.
International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) is a complex experimental research facility planned to be built on the surface and/or in orbit around the Moon, designed for multi-disciplinary scientific research activities including lunar exploration, observation, fundamental experiments, and technology verification, with long-term robotic exploration and short-term human presence. It is initiated by China and open to international collaboration.
The first phase of the ILRS construction project will see a basic station built by 2035 in the lunar south pole region. The second phase will see the expansion of the station, set for completion by 2045.
China will advance cooperation on the ILRS. We welcome international partners to participate in the research and construction of the station at any stage and any level of the mission and offer international partners a unique new opportunity for lunar exploration.