China-Russia Joint Working Group Developing International Lunar Research Station Plan
Wu Yanhua Of CNSA And Sergey Saveliev Of Roscosmos Present Guide For Partnership v1.0 At GLEX 2021 In St Petersburg, Russia; 3 Development Phases (Reconnaissance, Construction, Utilization) Encompassing 5-Facility Station (Cis-Lunar Transportation In Space + Long-Term Support, Transport And Operation, Science, And Ground Support & Application On Surface), With 8 Science Objectives (Lunar Geology, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, ISRU, Astronomy / Earth Observation From Moon, Cis-Lunar Space); Limited Collaboration Opportunities For Chang’e 7-8 And Luna 25-28, With Broader Participation In ILRS Missions 1-5 Between 2031-35
Credits: CNSA, Roscosmos, SCIO
Lunar Landing Sites Under Consideration At Global Space Exploration Conference 2021 In St Petersburg, Russia Include 5-km Peak Malapert Mountain (86°S, 0°); Possessing Numerous Attributes Conducive To Scientific Observation, Communication, IRSU, Habitation; Containing Areas Of Near (90%+) Continuous Illumination And Shadowed Cold-Traps Possibly Harboring Water Ice; Earth Line-Of-Sight From Peak Rarely Interrupted; Shielded Far Side Flank Appropriate For Radio Astronomy; As USA President Biden And Russia President Putin Meet Today In Geneva, And China-Russia International Research Station Is Presented, Malapert Could Be Focus Of Cooperation Between Space Powers
Luna 25 Launch Set For 1 October, Marking Resumption Of Lunar Exploration Activities After 45+ Year Hiatus For Russia, First Nation To Robotically Explore Moon; Luna 25 To Attempt Landing At Boguslavsky Crater Near Moon South Pole (72.9°S, 43.2°E) To Investigate Subsurface Ice Deposits; Luna 26 (2024), Lunar 27 (2025), Luna 28 (2027) To Culminate With International Lunar Research Station Buildout With China & Human Lunar Missions By Decade End; Nuclear-Powered Zeus To Launch From Moon Orbit 2030, Exploit Venus Gravity-Assist On Jupiter Trajectory During 50-Month, US$58M Mission
Payloads And Research Investigations On The Surface Of The Moon (PRISM) Selections Include 2 Far Side Deployments To Schrödinger Crater (75.0°S, 132.4°E): Farside Seismic Suite (FSS), Containing Very Broadband Seismometer And Short Period Sensor, Investigating Subsurface Structure / Tectonics Over Several Lunar Days / Nights With Internal Thermal Regulation; Lunar Interior Temperature And Materials Suite (LITMS) To Study Internal Heat Transfer; Nearside Payload Lunar Vertex Lander / Rover To Measure Lunar Swirl Reiner Gamma (7.5°N 59.0°W) Via Magnetometer; CLPS Transport Provider(s) TBD 
~US$10B Authorization For “Dissimilar Redundant” 2024 Human Landing System Award, Widely Speculated To Be In Response To Blue Origin GAO Protest Over Blue Moon Lander (L) Included In Innovation And Competition Act Containing NASA Authorization; Amended By Commerce Committee Chair Senator Maria Cantwell; Meanwhile Roscosmos Prime Contractor RSC Energia Continues Construction On 18 m3 Orel ‘Eagle’ (TR) And CNSA Contractor CASC Plans Next Test Of 13 m3 Next-Generation Crewed Spacecraft (BR) With Missions Slated For Late 2020s
ispace Of Japan, Under CLPS-like Contract From JAXA, To Carry Small (80mm Diameter, 250g Mass) 2-wheeled Spherical Rover To Moon; Hakuto-R Mission 1 Is Slated To Launch To Lacus Somniorum (37.56°N / 30.8°E), Possibly In Competition With USA Enterprises Astrobotic And Intuitive Machines For Historic First Private Landing On Another World; ispace Is Also Scheduled In 2022 To Deliver 10kg Rashid Rover For UAE Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, Instruments From Mission Control Space Services, Canadensys And NGC Of Canada Through US$124M Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program; CSA-ASC / NASA Rover By 2026
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson In Talks With Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin On Future Of ISS Partnership As USA And Russia Presidents Biden And Putin Prepare For Geneva Summit 16 June; Nelson Predicts Space Travel “On Agenda”, Characterizes Biden As “A Fan Of Space”; Concurrently, Roscosmos And CNSA To Co-Host Meeting On International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) At Global Space Exploration Conference 2021 In St. Petersburg, During Which Potential International Partners Expected To Respond To Participation Invites; ISRO, ESA Have Yet To Commit To 11 Nation-Strong Artemis Coalition Or ILRS, Raising Possibility Of Dual Membership
Recognizing Inevitable 
University Of Reading (UK) Study Applies Statistical Analysis To 150 Years Of Solar Weather Data; Findings Suggest Extreme Coronal Mass Ejections, Deleterious To Human Health And Technology, May Be More Probable In Later Half Of Odd-Numbered 11-Year Solar Cycles (With Opposite Trend During Even), Possibly Due To Concurrent Solar Geomagnetic Reversals; Cycle 25 Runs From Approximately 2019-30, Artemis Human Moon Missions In Possible Jeopardy 2026-30 Unless Nominal Surface Exposure Radiation Levels Of 60 
NASA SBIR / SBTT Awards $750K/EA To 6 Businesses With Moon Focus: Paragon Space Development Corporation Of Tucson AZ (ISRU Collector Of Ice); Lunar Resources Of Houston TX (Molten Regolith Electrolysis Oxygen Capturing, Filtering & Storage System); Advanced Cooling Technologies Of Lancaster PA (Thermal Management System For Lunar Ice Miners); CesiumAstro Of Austin TX (Commercial Communications & Sensing System); Flight Works Of Irvine CA (High Performance Pump-fed Lunar Transfer Stage For Small Launchers); Blueshift Of Broomfield CO (Modeling Rover Interactions With Lunar Regolith In PSRs)