China’s lunar base: major African nation joins Beijing’s international moon project
- Heads of China National Space Administration and Egyptian Space Agency sign cooperation agreement to work together on lunar station
- Analysts say China gains access to African space market and Cairo firms up relationship with Beijing while moving closer to having Egyptian walk on the moon
A cooperation agreement on the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) was signed between Zhang Kejian, director of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), and Sherif Sedky, chief operating officer of the Egyptian Space Agency, in Beijing on Wednesday.
The two countries will work together on the lunar station’s design, related space missions, the development of space systems, subsystems, facilities and ground-based segments, as well as talent training and capacity building, according to the CNSA website.
03:02
India releases images of lunar surface from world’s 1st spacecraft to land on the moon’s south pole
John B Sheldon, a partner at AzurX, a space services company in Dubai, said the new partnership would benefit both sides in a number of ways.
For Egypt, “joining the ILRS is a diplomatic and public confirmation of their partnership with China, and will undoubtedly benefit Cairo for many years to come in terms of continued Chinese support for its growing space programme,” said Sheldon.
Joining the ILRS also meant there was a strong possibility an Egyptian astronaut would walk on the moon alongside their Chinese colleagues within the next decade or so, he said.