While space research opens new opportunities in space exploration, more and more countries unite in their efforts to realize their dreams of exploring Mars and colonizing the moon.

Russia has a lot of experience in the construction of space stations and long-term missions, which is why its participation in the creation of a lunar orbital station is very welcome, German astronaut Thomas Reiter told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Commenting on the recent space agreement between Russia and the United States on the creation of the Deep Space Gateway spaceport in the vicinity of the moon, the astronaut said that five partners — the US, Russia, the EU, Japan and Canada — have been working on this concept for three years.

"Russia's decision did not surprise us. The agreement between Roscosmos and NASA gave the Russian space agency a formal basis for making its contribution to the project," Reiter said.

"We are happy to have Russia on board," the astronaut added.

Reiter explained that the Deep Space Gateway station could become a "starting point" for further flights to Mars, as well as the colonization of the moon.

"Both goals can be perfectly combined with each other. In recent years, the US has been constantly talking about the return of humans to the moon. Plans for creating a lunar village, where people will live on a permanent basis, aroused great interest among our international partners, including Russia," the astronaut said.

The plans on the creation of the Deep Space Gateway station were made public in spring 2016 when Russia reportedly cooperated with NASA on building lunar infrastructure. The construction of the lunar orbital platform is expected to begin by the end of 2022.

NASA and Roscosmos signed a joint statement on researching and exploring deep space on September 27.