Russia, the longtime U.S. partner in space, is heading to China for its lunar ambitions.
Why it’s important: The United States and Russia have been restless partners in orbit for decades, but as the two move apart in space, their fracture could reshape the geopolitical landscape on Earth (and on it) for years to come.
- “We will not see the same level of cooperation between the United States and Russia, compared to what we saw in the 1990s … when Russia broke up, it went through an economic catastrophe after the collapse of the Soviet bloc and be desperate, ”space policy expert Bleddyn Bowen told me.
Leading the news: Last week, China and Russia signed an agreement to work together to develop a lunar orbital research station orbiting it, allying Russia with a nation that many see as opposed to U.S. interests in the Moon. space.
- The memorandum of understanding comes after Russia refused to sign NASA’s Artemis Agreements governing international cooperation and uses of the Moon and after a Russian official criticized NASA’s plans to build a small space station in orbit. lunar.
- Initially, Russia was expected to provide an air key for the small lunar space station, which is part of NASA’s plans to land people on the moon, but now “NASA will look for other options for the key provider “NASA said in a statement. .
Background story: US-Russia space relations began to deteriorate in the early 2010s when Russia annexed Crimea.
- The two countries’ space programs kept them talking through the International Space Station, but since then, Russia’s public stance toward the United States on space issues has changed, experts say.
- “We saw a marked change in the way Russians interacted in multilateral space forums,” Brian Weeden of the Secure World Foundation told me. There was “a marked increase in the hostility of their language against almost anything the US proposed.”
The plot: China’s space program and industry is booming, with government support and a long-term vision of what the nation hopes to achieve. The Russian star, on the other hand, is fading.
- Russia loses a major source of revenue as SpaceX blows up astronauts on the space station, ending NASA’s dependence on the Russian-made Soyuz rocket.
- This partnership with China will allow Russia to work with a growing nation when it comes to space, while China takes advantage of the technical vision established by Russia.
So important if not more, the two powers together will exert a geopolitical weight in the formation of international space policy.
- As Europe, Canada, Japan and other countries are already partnering with the United States in their Moon plans, this partnership between Russia and China could gain the support of other nations, if both nations decide they also want partners. .
What to see: It is unclear what the priority of the Russia-China lunar research lunar station will be as China works to build its own space station orbiting the Earth in the coming years.
- The division of labor of the two nations has not been established and a clear source of funding has not yet been announced.
- And experts say the door is not necessarily closed for the United States and Russia to partner in space in the future.