China has unveiled the plan for building the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) near the Moon's south pole which it plans to get ready by 2035. The ILRS is basically a permanent human base which China wants to build with international cooperation.
Wu Weiren, chief designer of the Sino lunar program, revealed during an event on Tuesday that the construction will take place in two phases. The 'basic version' of the base will reportedly be completed through missions launched between 2030 and 2035.
Missions like Chang'e-7 and 8 along with three international launches starting later this decade will help lay foundation of the base. The Chang'e-7 mission is expected to lift off in 2026.
Weiren said per state media outlet Xinhua that the ILRS will be a "comprehensive lunar station network that utilises the lunar orbit station as its central hub and the south pole station as its primary base, and it will include exploration nodes on the lunar equator and the far side of the moon."
He also revealed that the ILRS will be powered by solar, radioisotope and nuclear generators. It could utilise the nuclear power plant that Russia wants to build on the Moon. Recent reports revealed that even India is interested in contributing to the project.
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China hopes to expand the ILRS into a full-scaled research base by 2050 to support missions to Mars. The first roadmap for the base was released in 2021 and several countries like Russia, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Brazil among others have joined the project.
Apart from China, the U.S. is also working to establish a sustainable lunar base through NASA's Artemis program. Both China and U.S. are planning to land astronauts on the Moon by the end of this decade.
The European Space Agency (ESA) is also a key partner in development of the Artemis Program which began with launch of Artemis 1 in November 2022.
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