Planetary pact: China and Russia to launch lunar space station

Beijing and Moscow to develop experimental research facilities on the Moon’s surface and its orbit.

Russia and China have unveiled plans for a joint lunar space station as Moscow seeks to recapture the glory of its space pioneering days of Soviet times, and Beijing gears up its own extraterrestrial ambitions. Though Russia was once at the forefront of space travel – it sent the first man into space – its cosmic ambitions have dimmed thanks to poor financing and endemic corruption. It has been eclipsed by China and the United States, which have both clocked major wins in space exploration and research in recent years.