HELSINKI \u2014 China is aiming to work with 50 countries on its ILRS lunar south pole base program as\u00a0efforts to attract partners continue.<\/p>
“We are open and welcome international cooperation from all countries, including those countries from the Global South, emerging BRICS countries, as well as Western countries,\u201d Wu Weiren, chief designer of China\u2019s lunar exploration program, told China Global Television Network (CGTN) ahead of International Moon Day, July 20.<\/p>
The call comes days after NASA canceled the VIPER robotic lunar rover mission<\/a> that would have searched for ice at the moon\u2019s south pole. <\/p> China aims to build a basic International Lunar Research Station (ILRS<\/a>) by 2035, and an extended station by 2045. <\/p> \u201cSo far, we have signed agreements with more than 10 countries and nearly 30 international research institutions. We hope to work with 50 countries by inviting 500 foreign scientific research institutions, and 5,000 foreign scientific research personnel to jointly build our international lunar scientific research station,” Wu stated.<\/p> China is known to have attracted 10 countries to join it and Russia in the venture. These are Venezuela, Belarus, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, South Africa, Egypt, Nicaragua, Thailand, Serbia and, most recently, Kazakhstan<\/a>. <\/p> Turkey is understood to have applied to join. Meanwhile a series <\/a>of universities, companies, institutes and regional organizations have signed memorandums of understanding on the ILRS.<\/p> The continued diplomatic push does suggest a delay to earlier plans to attract founding partners for the project.<\/p>