HELSINKI — European-Chinese cooperation in lunar exploration may end despite successful cooperation in the ongoing Chang’e-6 mission.
ESA delivered a payload for China’s far-side Chang’e-6 sample return mission, which launched on May 3. The mission aims to collect and return samples from the far side of the moon, providing unprecedented insights into the composition and history of the moon.
An instrument developed by the Swedish Institute of Space Physics was aboard the Chang’e-6 lander, which earlier this month landed and took samples from the mid-latitude Apollo Crater in the South Pole-Aitken Basin.
The European team working with the Negative Ion Instrument on the Lunar Surface (NILS) has confirmed the success of their science mission. The payload made the first detection of negative ions on the lunar surface.
“The discovery of a new component of the lunar surface plasma opens a new window for space physics and for human and robotic missions in the era of renewed lunar exploration,” ESA said.
China is preparing for two missions to the lunar south pole with Chang’e-7 around 2026 and the Chang’e-8 mission to use resources and technologies in place no earlier than 2028.
However, the successful cooperation of the NILS experiment with Chang’e-6 may mark the end of an era of lunar cooperation between ESA and China.
“At the moment, there are no decisions to continue cooperation on Chang’e-7 or -8,” said Karl Bergqvist, ESA’s administrator of international relations. SpaceNews.
Going forward, ESA will not participate in the China-led International Lunar Research Station (ILRS).
“ESA will not cooperate on ILRS as it is a Sino-Russian initiative and space cooperation with Russia is currently embargoed,” Bergqvist said.
This is the latest blow to Sino-European space cooperation. Last year, ESA also said it would no longer pursue opportunities to send European astronauts to the Tiangong space station. China and ESA have previously held training exchanges.
ILRS, partners and Russian ratification
China and Russia formally presented a joint roadmap for the project in St. Petersburg in June 2021. The moon base is to be initially robotic, constructed by launching superheavy rockets in 2030. It will also host manned missions.
Moscow and Beijing intended to involve ESA and its member states in the project. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 signaled the end of any prospects for cooperation.
China has taken the lead in ILRS since 2022. The headquarters of the project will be established in China. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) and its Deep Space Exploration Laboratory (DSEL) have been at the center of partnering efforts, sometimes failing to mention Russia as a partner. Much of this effort, as well as China’s broader diplomatic efforts, is focused on the “Global South.”
There are already 11 signatory countries, as well as other bodies. Russian reports indicate that Turkey has also applied to join the ILRS. On June 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law ratifying an intergovernmental agreement with China to establish the ILRS.
Meanwhile, the European Space Agency is involved in the Gateway and Artemis programs. A number of its member states have signed the Artemis Agreements. 42 countries have already signed the agreements.
The TArtemis and ILRS projects and related diplomatic efforts can be seen as forming separate groups. However, there is a small degree of overlap. This includes Bahrain, a party to the agreement that recently agreed to cooperate with Egypt to develop a hyperspectral imager for Chang’e-7.
Regarding plans for human spaceflight after the ISS – which previously included the Tiangong – ESA signed agreements for the commercial space stations Starlab and Vast.
Cooperation with China will continue at least in the near future. Samples collected by Chang’e-6 are currently in lunar orbit awaiting return to Earth, which is expected around June 25.
ESA will provide ground station support for Chang’e-6, as it did for Chang’e-5 through its network of ESTRACK tracking stations.
The Maspalomas station in Gran Canaria, Spain, will track the Chang’e-6 spacecraft as it returns to Earth around June 25. Kourou Station in French Guiana tracked the spacecraft a few hours after launch to confirm its orbit.
