ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (Roscosmos PR) — Two Russo-Chinese agreements on cooperation in Lunar research were signed on September 17, 2019 in Saint Petersburg as part of the 24th meeting of Russia and China heads of government.

The documents were signed by Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin and the Head of China National Space Administration Zhang Kejian. One of the signed agreements is connected with creating and operating a joint Data Center for Lunar and Deep Space Research. The Data Center will be implemented as a geographically distributed information system with placing two main centers in Russia and China respectively.

The agreement also implies enhancing information capabilities and improving Lunar research output, as well as engaging relevant national organizations and institutions (e.g. National Academy of Sciences institutions) for further Data Center improvement.

The second document deals with the cooperation to coordinate the Russian Luna Resurs-1 spacecraft with the Chinese Chang’e 7 Moon polar research mission. The agreements reached ensure detailed exploration of possible landing areas for Chinese missions by Russian orbital spacecraft.

The data transmission tests will be performed between Luna Resurs-1 and Chang’e 7. The parties will also analyze the possibility of mutual scientific payload placing on Luna Resurs-1 and Chang’e 7 space modules, as well as consider the possibilities of joint space experiments.