After the Russian State Duma ratified the decision to work with China on building an International Lunar Research Station in March, President Vladimir Putin has now approved the project and an official confirmation was published on June 12 on the official legal information portal run by Sputnik. During his visit to China last month, Putin spoke of “very interesting” plans they had for lunar exploration.
According to Wu Weiren, the chief designer of the China Lunar Exploration Program, it will be built in two stages, with a basic station built on the lunar south pole by 2035 and an expansion of that station which will be completed in 2045.
