Category Archives: International Cooperation

Holiday / New Year Edition
Wednesday – Monday
24 Dec 2025 – 5 Jan 2026

Posted on by

Upcoming Artemis 2 Mission Reflects Apollo 8 Mission

Artemis 2 expects to take humans farther than any has yet traveled, >390,000 km, with 1st woman and 1st from outside USA, launching NET 5 Feb; Apollo 8 is recognized for being 1st to bring humans beyond Earth orbit, traveling 377,349 km away; Artemis 2 Astronauts will be absent communication with Earth ~45 minutes during Moon far side flight, learning from Apollo 8 Astronauts who experienced this 10 times in 20 orbits; ~1/4 of Earth humans saw television broadcast before Trans Earth Injection 25 December 1968, presaging Artemis 2 laser-based Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System “O2O” with 4K ultra-HD video livestream

Image Credits: NASA, Artemis 2 mission patch (L), Apollo 8 silver token (R)

Tuesday / 16 December 2025

Posted on by

Intuitive Machines Forges Ahead with US$4.82B Lunar Relay Network

Intuitive Machines (“IM”, Nasdaq “LUNR”), Houston TX, collaborates with Telespazio / Leonardo / Thales Alenia of ESA lunar communication / navigation program for interoperable infrastructures, secures NASA Near Space Network contract of up to US$4.82B for 5-satellite solar-powered constellation in lunar orbit, providing constant Moon South Pole connectivity via high-speed data relay; $150M initially, IM sells usage minutes to NASA, $1M / year projected; 1st satellite via IM-3 2026, all 5 by 2027 with 2 via IM-4; IM acquires KinetX for $30M to forward mission; Alphabet spinoff Aalyria also working on lunar connectivity

Image Credits: Intuitive Machines, Leonardo / Telespazio

Tuesday / 2 December 2025

Posted on by

Artemis 2 Nears Launch Window with Orion Stacked for Historic Lunar Flyby

Artemis 2 launches NET 5 February, 65 days, NLT 26 April; Orion capsule “Integrity” stacked atop SLS at Kennedy VAB before rollout to Pad 39B; technical preparation / critical testing includes interface among core / boosters / ground systems / capsule, propulsion, life support, connections with Near / Deep Space Networks for communication / navigation; Crew preps for 10-day mission—commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and specialist Jeremy Hansen (1st African-American and non-USA citizen, respectively, on Moon mission), specialist Christina Koch (1st woman to Moon, venturing ~274 times farther than any woman prior, ~384,000km vis-a-vis ~1,400km Polaris Dawn altitude); 1st woman on Moon via Artemis 3 planned NET 581 days hence

Image Credits: NASA, NASA / Cory Huston

Holiday Edition
Wed-Mon / 26 Nov – 1 Dec 2025

Posted on by

ISRO and JAXA Collaborate for Lunar Synergy

JAXA delegation meets ISRO senior leadership, reviews progress on upcoming ~US$253M Lunar Polar Exploration Mission (LuPEX), tours UR Rao Satellite Centre, discusses potential collaboration to create robotic arm / launch science satellites / support researchers and private companies from both nations working jointly; ISRO LuPEX Moon lander – Chandrayaan-5 – carries ~250kg JAXA rover / instruments from NASA / ESA / JAXA / ISRO, will investigate quantity / quality of South Pole-region water ice, flies 2028-2029 on JAXA H3 rocket; ~US$250M Chandrayaan-4 lunar sample return launching 2027-2028

Image Credits: ISRO, JAXA

Friday / 14 November 2025

Posted on by

Scientist Zarubin of Russia Highlights ISS Lessons for Cooperative International Lunar Program

Webinar International Lunar Program Sustainability: ISS Lessons Learned as Applied for Lunar Exploration has Dmitry Zarubin, Russian Academy of Sciences, former Roscosmos ISS management, 2 IAF committees; speaks of 15 nations working 25 years (38 including MIR) for continuous human presence in space; emphasizes applying ISS segment configuration / redundancy / genuine partnership to lunar exploration, fostering global cooperation for humanity benefit; describes Russia Luna Luna 26 orbiter, dual Luna 27 landers for polar drilling / hazard avoidance as robotic precursors to human Moon travel to solve water / dust issues; promotes ISRU to cut costs, redundant infrastructure for reliability, forums like IDSEA / UN ATLAC to align objectives, ensure peaceful, evolving research for all humankind

Image Credits: Dmitry Zarubin

Tuesday / 11 November 2025

Posted on by

Lunar Experts Favor More Moon Rock Returns: Selenology to Benefit Humanity

NASA veteran Andrew Petro writes that lunar robotic missions returning regolith will accelerate exploration; lunar geologist Clive Neal analyzes Apollo remnants for resource potential; NASA planetary scientist Noah Petro (no relation) advocates new samples during Artemis missions; regolith research benefits ISRU yielding safer Astronaut missions and lunar base viability; Apollo brought 382kg; authentic samples priceless under USA law, fragments bring ~US$5M illegally; China Chang’E-5 samples sent to scientists worldwide; Outer Space Treaty declares Moon belongs to all, thus symbolic share per human of acre, with lunar ~9.37B acres ample for ~8.2B Earth inhabitants

Image Credits: NASA

Tuesday / 28 October 2025

Posted on by

Lunar Development Cooperative Offers Transnational Framework for Sustainable Lunar Economy

Lunar Development Cooperative (LDC), New York City for-profit multinational public-private partnership proposed by Michael Castle-Miller, an attorney there, aims to enhance 1967 Outer Space Treaty by fostering egalitarian, peaceful and sustainable Moon economy; early investors can buy shares—starting at US$1—via global trading platform, be part of humanity’s lunar “holding company” with ≥51% equity held by private investors, ≤49% by sovereigns around the world; members pay fees based on market value of lunar rights to fund shared infrastructure, e.g. power stations and waste networks; robust rules ensure environmental protection, fair labor and competition, prioritize developing nations / indigenous groups for inclusive resource mining / development

Image Credits: The Lunar Development Cooperative

Friday / 24 October 2025

Posted on by

ispace Innovation / Cooperation Offers Success Model for Lunar Advancement

ispace, inc. (Japan), developing Moon landers / rovers in HAKUTO-R program, planned to collect lunar regolith for US$5,000 and transfer ownership to NASA — evoking lunar property rights questions; subsidiary ispace-Europe signs 6 Oct US$22M Payload Services Agreement (PSA) with Magna Petra Corp. to deliver (via subsidiary ispace-USA APEX 1.0 lander / micro-rover) NASA MSOLO mass spectrometer for lunar Helium-3 prospecting under Magna Petra-NASA 5 May Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA); ispace signs 5 Sep MoU with Digantara (India) for cislunar awareness and 23 Oct with OrbitAID (India) for refueling, indirectly supporting ISRO-JAXA LUPEX / Chandrayaan-5 mission (JAXA rocket / rover, ISRO lander) launching NET 2028

Image Credits: ispace

Tuesday / 21 October 2025

Posted on by

Moon Olympics as Overarching Concept

Olympic-class spirit would be appropriate in any discussion of a 2nd Moon race, fostering sports-like excellence in a mode of international friendship during competition; challenges of complexity arise for all, whether SpaceX with a multi-stage system, Blue Origin announcing a new robotic cargo Moon lander prior to its Mark 1, SLS and Orion moving toward launch, or China now test-firing its human-rated long March 10 twice; since People’s Republic of China 2013 Chang’E-3 landing, China has shared Moon rocks / research internationally

Image Credits: John Pisani/Spaceflight Now, CCTV, NASA, CNSA

Tuesday / 7 October 2025

Posted on by

Australian Roo-ver to Moon 2030, Other Lunar Accomplishments

Australia Moon goals feature 20kg Roo-ver rover, named for kangaroo via public vote, launching by 2030 to Moon southern latitudes for Artemis program via CLPS, being built by ELO2 consortium co-led by EPE Oceania and Lunar Outpost Oceania and including ~20 orgs; Australia 1 of 6 original signers of Artemis Accords, ~10,000 work in space sector; 1st Australian to space Paul Scully-Power as civilian on Challenger; Parkes Observatory in New South Wales has 64m radio telescope dish Murriyang that relayed 2.5 hrs of Neil Armstrong 1st Moonwalk amid 110km/h winds, outside its safety limits

Image Credits: ELO2, Parkes