China ready to cooperate with Russia in operating its future orbital station

[Dante80]

China ready to cooperate with Russia in operating its future orbital station
TASS - January 14 2019

BEIJING, January 14. /TASS/. China is ready to cooperate with Russia in operating its yet-to-be created orbital station and to let some other countries participate in similar projects, the secretary-general of the China National Space Administration, Li Guoping, told a news conference on Monday.

"Russia is one of China’s main partners in space cooperation," he said adding that the two countries held annual meetings devoted to cooperation in space exploration. Both countries, he said, were pushing ahead with joint aerospace projects in accordance with China’s program for 2018-2022.

"Lunar studies are one of the guidelines in our cooperation," Li said. "As far as China’s orbital station is concerned, it is in the construction phase and will be completed by 2022. We intend to cooperate with many countries, including Russia, Germany and France on this project."

China in recent years was conducting active research into creating its own orbital station that will consist of three modules: one base module and two laboratories. Each will have a mass of 20 tonnes. According to official sources, the previous generation rockets (Changzheng-2F and Changzheng-7) are unable to put such big payloads in space. Changzhen-5 is going to be used to orbit the station’s modules. It is expected that the station’s first module will be put in space in 2019 and its operation will begin as of 2022.

 

[Dante80]

Comment: It’s not clear exactly what such cooperation would entail. European Space Agency (ESA) astronauts are training with China for future flights aboard Shenzhou spacecraft.

Shenzhou spacecraft will serve the multi-module Tianhe-1 space station, whose core module is to be launched in 2020. The orbiting facility will be roughly the size of Russia’s decommissioned Mir station and have about one-fifth the volume of the International Space Station.

China is also pursuing an aggressive program to explore the moon with international cooperation. The ambitious Chang’e-4 mission — which includes a lander, rover, orbiter and two CubeSats — includes instruments and experiments from Germany, Sweden, The Netherlands and Saudi Arabia.

Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin said Russia could turn to cooperation with China if it is not given an appropriate role in NASA-led plans for a crewed Lunar Gateway that would orbit the moon in the 2020’s.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine recently rescinded an invitation to Rogozin to visit the United States for consultation with agency leaders. The decision came after an uproar over the Trump Administration’s decision to grant an exemption to Rogozin, who cannot travel to the United States due to sanctions imposed after Russia invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea.

An angry Roscosmos has demanded an explanation from NASA, noting pointedly that negotiations on the Lunar Gateway and extending operations of the International Space Station beyond 2024 have “not yet been suspended.”

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Fantastic. Russia has a great deal of experience when it comes to space stations.

China currently has a few space labs in orbit, and is looking to upgrade to a full space station soon. Would be great to see Russian cosmonauts visiting our space station in the future.

The decision came after an uproar over the Trump Administration’s decision to grant an exemption to Rogozin, who cannot travel to the United States due to sanctions imposed after Russia invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea.

US policy has less to do with science and international cooperation, and more to do with trade wars and building walls.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin said Russia could turn to cooperation with China if it is not given an appropriate role in NASA-led plans for a crewed Lunar Gateway that would orbit the moon in the 2020’s.

Well NASA is simply not sure how is the best way to proceed forward.
It's hard to plan when a company like upstart SpaceX launches the world's most powerful rocket which would allow for much bigger modules...and then SpaceX announces a new ship which will almost be as big as the ENTIRE International Space Station. That really causes a pause in design.