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[Text/Observer Network Yan Shanshan] China’s circle of space friends continues to “expand”. The International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) project initiated by China has added a new partner from an EU country - the Hungarian Heliophysics Foundation.

The Hong Kong English media South China Morning Post website published an article on July 22 saying that research institutions from the European Union and NATO member states have joined the China-led International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) project, bringing the total number of partners in the project to about 25.

According to the WeChat public account of the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory on July 19, on the morning of July 12, Professor Fay Siebenbogen, Chairman of the Hungarian Solar Physics Foundation, led a delegation to visit the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory's Hefei headquarters. After the meeting, they signed the "Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the International Lunar Research Station" with the Chinese side.

Hu Chaobin, Party Secretary and Deputy Director of the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, met with Fay Hibenbogen and his delegation. WeChat Official Account of "Deep Space Exploration Laboratory"

The China Deep Space Exploration Laboratory is a new national research and development institution jointly built by the National Space Administration, Anhui Province, and the University of Science and Technology of China. It takes the lead in supporting many major national deep space exploration projects and major engineering tasks.

According to the laboratory, on the morning of July 12, Professor Fay Siebenbogen, Chairman of the Hungarian Heliophysics Foundation, led a delegation to visit the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory's Hefei headquarters. Wu Yanhua, chief designer of the deep space exploration major project, and Hu Chaobin, secretary of the party committee and deputy director of the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, met with Fay Siebenbogen and his delegation.

Chief Designer Wu Yanhua introduced to Fay Hibenbogen the relevant situation of the deep space exploration laboratory and the progress of major deep space exploration tasks. Fay Hibenbogen expressed appreciation for China's achievements in the field of deep space exploration and gave a detailed introduction to the basic situation, international cooperation and future plans of the Hungarian Heliophysics Foundation. Both sides expressed their willingness to strengthen cooperation in the field of deep space exploration.

After the meeting, the two sides signed the "Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the International Lunar Research Station". The Deep Space Exploration Laboratory did not disclose the specific content of the cooperation.

The Hungarian Heliophysics Foundation was established in 2016 as a non-profit organization whose main business is to carry out scientific research and education in solar and heliospheric physics.

According to the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, the Hungarian Solar Physics Foundation was established by Professor Fay Siebenbogen of Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary and others. It has two observatories under its jurisdiction. The foundation has an important influence in the fields of solar physics and heliospheric physics, and has carried out extensive cooperation with many universities and research institutions such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of Science and Technology of China.

When reporting on this matter, the South China Morning Post emphasized Hungary's dual identity as a member of the European Union and NATO.

It is worth mentioning that,At the national level, Turkey is the first NATO member state to apply to participate in the International Lunar Research Station project.Earlier, according to Russia's TASS news agency, on April 8 this year, Anatoly Petrukovich, director of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said that Turkey has submitted an application hoping to participate in the international lunar research station project led by China and Russia.

The South China Morning Post said that this time, the addition of the Hungarian Heliophysics Foundation brings the total number of partners in the National Lunar Research Station to about 25.

The currently confirmed national members of the International Lunar Research Station program include China, Russia, Belarus, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Venezuela, South Africa, Egypt, Nicaragua, Thailand, Serbia and Kazakhstan, as well as the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization, the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences, the Ethiopian Institute of Space Sciences and Geography and other institutions.

On April 5, 2024, Hu Chaobin, Secretary of the Party Committee and Deputy Director of the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, who was visiting Africa, met with Mr. Abdisa Yilma, President of the Ethiopian Space Science and Geography Institute (SSGI), in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. The two sides held a signing ceremony for the "Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the International Lunar Research Station". "Deep Space Exploration Laboratory" WeChat Official Account

The International Lunar Research Station was initiated by China and jointly developed and built by many countries. The China National Space Administration released the "Guidelines for Partners of the International Lunar Research Station" in 2021. The guidelines point out that the International Lunar Research Station is based on the purpose of "peaceful use, equality and mutual benefit, and common development". Through multinational cooperation, it will jointly build a comprehensive scientific experimental facility on the lunar surface and in the lunar orbit that is long-term autonomous, short-term manned, expandable and maintainable.

The Chinese initiative has received positive responses from many countries and organizations in the world, and China has always welcomed more international partners to participate in the joint construction. In recent years, the "circle of friends" of the National Lunar Research Station has continued to expand.

Earlier this month, China and Kazakhstan issued the "Joint Statement of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Kazakhstan", which mentioned that both sides support the two countries' aerospace agencies and enterprises to carry out exchanges and cooperation in the peaceful use of outer space, promote mutually beneficial cooperation in the moon and deep space, remote sensing data reception and exchange, and explore the possibility of commercial use of both sides' space launch sites.

According to a report by Interfax on July 3, Kazakhstan and China signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation on the International Lunar Research Station.

The South China Morning Post mentioned that at the same time, the US-led Artemis program has led 43 countries to sign the Artemis Accords, which includes the construction of a lunar base in the future and is seen as a "competitor" to the China-led National Lunar Research Station. The report pointed out that the Kazakhstan National Space Agency has chosen the China-led National Lunar Research Station and has not signed the US-led agreement.

The report also mentioned that both China and the United States are committed to sending astronauts to the moon in the next few years. NASA is working hard to advance its Artemis 3 mission, which may send astronauts to the moon as early as September 2026; China's manned lunar exploration project has started the lunar landing phase mission, and plans to achieve the first Chinese landing on the moon before 2030.

According to Wu Weiren, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and chief designer of China's lunar exploration project, in April this year, the construction of the international lunar research station will be planned to be implemented in two phases in accordance with the principles of "overall planning, step-by-step implementation, and construction and use at the same time".

It is planned to complete the basic model by 2035, with the lunar South Pole as the core, to build a comprehensive scientific facility with basically complete functions and basic supporting elements, to carry out regular scientific experimental activities and a certain scale of resource development and utilization. The expansion model will be completed by 2045, with the lunar orbital station as the hub, to build equipment and facilities with complete functions, considerable scale and stable operation, to carry out comprehensive lunar-based scientific research and in-depth resource development and utilization, and to carry out relevant technical verification and scientific experimental research for manned landing on Mars.

In the future, my country will build the "555 Project", welcoming 50 countries, 500 international scientific research institutions and 5,000 overseas researchers to join the International Lunar Research Station project, jointly build and implement the International Lunar Research Station, a major scientific project, jointly manage the research station facilities, and share scientific research results.

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