According to a press release by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday, the meeting in Moscow covered areas including international legal regulation, “ensuring the long-term sustainability and safety of space activities,” and the agenda of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.
“An agreement was reached to strengthen coordination in this area both bilaterally and at specialized multilateral platforms,” the statement reads, according to RT.
Moscow and Beijing have been strengthening outer-space cooperation in recent years, setting up a commission on satellite navigation and making an agreement on space technology intellectual property.
In 2019, the two countries decided to establish a data center for lunar and deep-space exploration focused on the Moon and Mars. In June this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law ratifying an agreement with China on the construction of an International Lunar Research Station (ILRS). A dozen countries have joined or applied to join this initiative, including Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, and Turkey.
In March, the chief of the Russian space agency Roscosmos Yury Borisov revealed that the two countries are “seriously considering” a joint project to install a nuclear power station on the Moon within the next decade, to generate electricity for a future lunar settlement.
Talk of a lunar reactor comes amid growing speculation about a modern-day space race, between the US and its allies on one side and Russia and China on the other.
Moscow and Beijing have repeatedly outlined the need for joint efforts to prevent an arms race in outer space.
SD/
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