Ukraine and China are working through plans for future cooperation in the framework of a lunar exploration program.
The Ukrainian and Chinese partners discussed possible areas for cooperation in the Lunar program during a visit of a delegation of the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and the management of China Great Wall Industry Corporation to Ukraine on July 5-6, Interfax-Ukraine learned at the State Space Agency of Ukraine.
While in Ukraine, the Chinese officials visited the National Space Facilities Control and Test Center in Yevpatoria.
Cooperation in the exploration of the Moon and Mars are among the promising cooperation areas of the new Ukrainian-Chinese cooperation program on the exploration and use of space for peaceful purposes for 2011-2015, which was signed in September 2010.
Adviser to the head of the State Space Agency of Ukraine (SSAU) Eduard Kuznetsov said earlier that Ukraine planned to implement a project called Selena in 2017 involving the launch of a small scientific satellite to fly around the Moon.
The lunar satellite will be developed by Dnipropetrovsk-based Pivdenne Design Bureau and will be equipped with the new Ukrainian Krechet upper stage. The satellite is planned to be launched with the help of the Russian-Ukrainian Dnepr rocket.
According to data from open sources, China is planning to send astronauts to the Moon in 2020-2022.
