International Lunar Research Station

• 1. Introduction

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  The International Lunar Research Station made its public debut on the 16th of June 2021, at the Global Space Exploration Conference in St. Petersburg. Russia's Roscosmos and China's CNSA jointly presented a roadmap for a permanent base on the Moon. They described the project as open to all interested countries and international partners. The announcement came months after the two governments had signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the 9th of March. That document gave the project its legal foundation. What coalition would actually form around this plan? Which nations would find themselves excluded, and which would sign on from the most unexpected corners of the world? And when robotic scouts were sent ahead of construction to prepare the way, would they arrive intact?

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• 2. A New Space Race

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  From the moment the ILRS was announced, it was contrasted with the US-led Artemis Accords. Observers have described the divide between the two programs as part of a Second Cold War in space. Russia and China framed their project as the more inclusive alternative, and in September 2021 they moved to demonstrate that. They convened talks on a draft declaration with experts from Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Thailand, and the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs. Those talks took place behind closed doors. The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine was seen as ending these efforts. European engagement with the ILRS did not resume, and the gap between the two lunar programs grew more fixed. Two super heavy-lift rockets would be required for the heaviest construction deliveries: China's Long March 9 and Russia's Yenisei. Both were still in development when the coalition was being assembled.

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• 3. Partners and Signatories

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  By June 2023, the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan had formally joined the ILRS project, along with the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization. That same month, China's Deep Space Exploration Laboratory signed a memorandum of understanding with Nano-SPACE, a Swiss company. On the same day, a letter of intent was signed with the International Lunar Observatory Association. The Hawaii-based non-profit had already participated in the Chang'e-3 lander mission. That arrangement drew notice, given earlier restrictions placed by U.S. Congress on American collaboration with China's space agency. ILRS lab director Wu Weiren also held in-depth talks with France's Thales Group in July 2023. The company was weighing the possibility of future cooperation with the Chinese space agency.

  On the 17th of July 2023, Venezuela's Bolivarian Agency for Space Activities signed an agreement with CNSA. The deal provided China with access to Venezuelan ground stations in support of ILRS missions. On the 1st of September 2023, South Africa's SANSA signed a memorandum of understanding with CNSA. Humbulani Mudau, the SANSA chief executive, and Chen Xiaodong, China's ambassador to South Africa, put their names to the document. The agreement covered cooperation across demonstration, implementation, operation, application, and training.

  At the 74th International Astronautical Conference held in Baku on the 3rd of October 2023, Azerbaijan formally entered the program. Azercosmos director Samaddin Asadov signed the agreement. In April 2024, Thailand and Turkey both applied to join; Thailand was accepted as a signatory, while Turkey had not yet formalized its membership. In June 2024, Russia's cooperation with the ILRS was codified into law. Construction was not scheduled to begin until 2031, leaving nearly a decade of robotic reconnaissance to demonstrate that reliable landings were achievable.

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• 4. Pathfinders

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  Chang'e 4 lifted off on the 7th of December 2018 and entered lunar orbit on the 12th. It went on to land on the far side of the Moon. The mission had not been designed with the ILRS in mind. Chang'e 4 was built as a backup module for its predecessor, Chang'e 3. Some reconnaissance missions in the program's early phase had roots going back to the 1990s. Still, its data contributed to the broader task of identifying suitable sites for the future station.

  Russia's Luna 25 was designed to deliver 30 kilograms of scientific payloads to the lunar surface. It did not land intact. The spacecraft crashed due to an incorrect orbit calculation, leaving Roscosmos without the data the mission had been sent to gather. On the 25th of August 2023, Roscosmos Director Yury Borisov met with representatives of NPO Lavochkin, the organization involved in the mission's development. He indicated that consideration was being given to recreating the mission, with a potential second launch in 2025 or 2026.

  China sent Chang'e 6 on the 3rd of May 2024. It achieved the first sample return from the far side of the Moon, collected from Apollo Basin. Chang'e 5 had returned samples from the near side four years earlier; no mission before Chang'e 6 had managed a sample return from the far side. The mission carried a rover named Jinchan, which conducted infrared spectroscopy of the lunar surface and imaged the Chang'e 6 lander. The lander-ascender-rover combination separated from the orbiter before landing, touching down on the 1st of June 2024 at 22:23 UTC.

  The ascender lifted back to lunar orbit on the 3rd of June 2024 at 23:38 UTC, carrying samples collected by the lander. The sample container was transferred to the returner, which landed in Inner Mongolia on the 25th of June 2024. Pakistan sent a lunar orbiter called ICUBE-Q aboard Chang'e 6. The Chang'e 6 orbiter was later captured by the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point on the 9th of September 2024. In March 2025, it left that position for a solar orbit.

  Luna 26, announced in November 2022, was planned as a polar orbiter with a 2027 launch. It would study the lunar surface and provide a telecommunications relay for future Russian landed assets.

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• 5. The Station's Design

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  Five major facility categories define the ILRS architecture. A Cislunar Transportation Facility would handle round-trip transfers between the Earth and the Moon, including descent, landing, ascent, and return. A Long-term Support Facility on the lunar surface would consist of various support modules. A Lunar Transportation and Operation Facility would serve lunar exploration and cargo transport. A Lunar Scientific Facility would support both in-orbit and surface experiments. A Ground Support and Application Facility would manage the data center and ground operations from Earth.

  Eight scientific domains anchor the station's research mandate. Lunar topography, geomorphology, and geological structure form the first area of investigation. Physics and the Moon's internal structure form a second. The program includes lunar chemistry, covering materials and what researchers describe as geoarchaeology. Cis-lunar space environment studies and lunar-based astronomical observation are also on the agenda. Earth observation conducted from the lunar surface is a distinct research goal. Biological and medical experiments appear alongside in-situ resource utilization, the practice of drawing on the Moon's own materials to sustain operations.

  In May 2024, it was reported that Russia was considering nuclear energy as a power source for the station. Computer-generated renders of the base were first widely shared in April 2024. The ILRS is formally defined as capable of long-term uncrewed operation. Chang'e 7, scheduled for 2026, would be among the first missions in the construction stage to test the capabilities that full operations will require.

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• 6. Building by 2035

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  Phase 2 of the ILRS opens in 2026, with Stage 1 running through 2030. This first stage focuses on technology verification for the command center, massive cargo delivery, and securing high-precision soft landings. It is also the stage where joint operations between China and Russia are first scheduled to begin. China's Chang'e 8, planned for 2028, is specifically tasked with testing in situ resource utilization on the lunar surface. That capability is central to the station's long-term self-sufficiency.

  Stage 2, spanning 2031-2035, centers on five numbered missions that carry out the comprehensive build-out. ILRS-1, in 2031, is tasked with establishing the command center, basic energy systems, and telecommunications facilities. ILRS-2, the following year, turns to research infrastructure: lunar physics instruments, geological profiling, lava tube exploration, and sample return. ILRS-3, in 2033, is dedicated to in-situ resource utilization technology. ILRS-4, in 2034, addresses technologies for biomedical experiments and distributed sample collection and return. ILRS-5, in 2035, closes the construction phase by establishing lunar-based astronomy and Earth observation capabilities. All five are planned to use the Long March 9 or Yenisei launch vehicles.

  Phase 3, beginning from 2036, marks the shift from construction to utilization. A completed ILRS would support crewed lunar missions and continue expanding its modules as needed. Russia's Luna 28, scheduled for 2034 on an Angara A5 rocket, would be among the last missions delivered before that phase can begin. Luna 27, planned for 2029, is one of the last robotic scouts the program will send before the five-mission construction sequence takes over. The gap from 2029 to crewed operations in Phase 3, opening from 2036, will require every planned mission in between to reach its mark.

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