The South African National Space Agency (Sansa) has announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the China National Space Administration (CNSA) regarding lunar exploration. Under the terms of this MoU, South Africa has formally joined China’s International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) programme.

The MoU was signed on September 1 but only revealed by Sansa a week later. The signatories were Sansa CEO Humbulani Mudau and, on behalf of the CNSA, Chinese Ambassador to South Africa Chen Xiaodong. The signing took place on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between South Africa and the People’s Republic of China.

“Under the MoU, China and South Africa will cooperate extensively on demonstration, mission implementation, operation and application, education and training of the ILRS,” explained Sansa in its statement. “In addition, under the cooperation framework of [Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa] Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation, China’s and South Africa’s space agencies carried out cooperations on remote sensing data exchange and application, and satellite ground stations.”

This MoU extends South African-Chinese space cooperation from near-Earth space to the Moon and beyond. This will play, Sansa noted, “a significant role in boosting technology advances and building a high-standard community with a shared future for China and South Africa”.

Reportedly, currently the other partners in the ILRS are Russia, Venezuela, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates. The programme was launched in mid-2021 and its implementation will, CNSA states, be divided into phases. Phase 1 will be reconnaissance, Phase 2 will be construction, and Phase 3 will be utilisation. The reconnaissance phase started in 2021 and will continue until 2025. Phase 2, construction, will run from 2030 to 2035. The final phase, utilisation, will start in 2035. The ILRS will be used as a base from which to more deeply investigate lunar topography, geomorphology and geological structure; lunar physics and internal structure; lunar chemistry (materials and geochronology); and the cis-lunar space environment; as well as carry out lunar-based astronomy, Earth observation, biological and medical research, and pioneer the in-situ utilisation of lunar resources.

Sansa has, since its establishment, cooperated with other space agencies around the world. It is already involved in supporting the US-led Artemis crewed lunar programme.