Russia, China ready to cooperate in space, explore Mars

Russia is ready to work with China to explore the Moon and Mars, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Monday, according to RIA Novosti. 

“If we talk about manned space flights and exploration of outer space, as well as joint exploration of the solar system, primarily it is the Moon and Mars, we are ready to go forth with our Chinese friends, hand in hand,” Rogozin said during a roundtable held within the framework of The First Russia-China Expo.

Deputy Prime Minister reminded that Russia is currently pursuing a comprehensive reform of the space industry, trying to catch up with technological progress.

"This is accompanied by accident risks, so we cannot simply watch these developments unconcerned, and the deep reforms that today should lead to the consolidation of the Russian aerospace industry, are bound to yield the desired result very soon," Rogozin stated.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister believes that Russia and China could potentially work together to create spacecraft, “a joint base of radio components independent from anyone,” as well as cooperate in cartography and communication.

Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and its Chinese counterparts also signed a memorandum of understanding “on cooperation in global navigation satellite systems.”

Rogozin said that the Russian navigation system GLONASS and the Chinese Beidou will very well complement each other.

Cooperation between the two countries intensified after Russian President Vladimir Putin visited China in late May. The main outcome of the visit was inking the largest gas contract ever concluded between the two countries. Gazprom agreed to supply 38 billion cubic meters of gas to China annually for 30 years, totaling some $400 billion in expected deliveries.