Andrey Ionin, Chief Analyst at the Digital Transport and Logistics Association and a member of the Tsiolkovsky Russian Academy of Cosmonautics, is calling for a joint Mars mission among the U.S., Russia, and China. In an interview with Business Online on April 12, Ionin described such a project as the foundation of a long-term national strategy for Russia’s “third industrialization.”
“For Russia, the Mars project could become the core of a national strategy for the next 50-100 years!” he said. While critical of Roscosmos and perhaps overly enthusiastic about Elon Musk, Ionin sees space exploration as a transformative effort and wants to build a general sense of enthusiasm to help the project succeed.
Commenting on how the launch of the space program in the 1950s in the Soviet Union, as well as in the United States, led to a proliferation of the works of science fiction, denoting the popular aspect of space in the mind of the nations, the interviewer noted that people no longer read books as much. “Today people don’t read books, but they read social networks—they live in them,” Ionin replied. “That’s where we need to go. With beautiful ideas, positive images. About the Moon, Mars, the cosmic path of humanity. About the future we want to live in. Such a future is impossible without the exploration of outer space. And Mars is just a step on this path.”
When asked if it were realistic to think that Trump would invite Putin and Xi to work together on a manned Mars project, Ionin replied, “Yes,” he said. “Because this is the only way the project makes sense. But we must hurry: Such a favorable situation will not last forever. Maybe during Trump’s term. Maybe longer, if the next American President is Vance, who, as Vice President, will, following tradition since Kennedy, head the U.S. Space Council.”
“So you forecast that the three leaders will come to an agreement?” the interviewer asked. “My forecast is that now is a unique chance. I admit that the leaders of countries, as in the times of the first space breakthroughs, are indifferent to space itself, but they need to solve serious political problems in the interests of their countries.
“And let everyone then tell what they gained from this the most. For example, Donald Trump will say that this is MAGA. But if he supports this project, finances it, promotes it, it doesn’t matter how he justifies his policy,” Ionin said.
