MOSCOW – Russian State Space Corporation Rosсosmos and the China NationalSpace Administration signed on Saturday the agreement of intent forcooperation in the sphere of exploration of the Moon and the Outer space aswell as on the creation of the Joint Data Center on the Lunar projects, thecorporation said in a statement.

According to the statement, the State Corporation Roscosmos and the ChinaNational Space Administration aim to cooperate in the sphere of explorationof the Moon and the Outer space as well as on the establishment of theJoint Data Center on the Lunar projects.

“The sides have expressed readiness to consider the possibilityof cooperation on the implementation of the Russian mission to launch theLuna-Resurs-1 (Luna-26) orbital spacecraft in 2022, as well as on theplanned Chinese mission for landing in the region of the southern poleof the Moon in 2023,” the corporation added.

The agreement was signed at the ongoing International Space ExplorationForum (ISEF) in Tokyo.

In November 2017, Beijing and Moscow said in a communique they aimto broaden long-term space cooperation through implementing theRussian-Chinese space cooperation program for 2013-2017.

The Russian-Chinese cooperation on the exploration of outer space isdeveloping rapidly. On June 25, 2016, the two governments signed anagreement pact that sets out a legal frame work for protecting their rightsto sensitive space technologies in joint projects, Russian state spaceagency Roscosmos said.