The ILRS and the Two Lunar Blocs
How is the China-led International Lunar Research Station organised, who has joined, and what does a two-bloc Moon mean for business?
Chapter summary
The ILRS is a plan announced by China and Russia in 2021 for a research base near the lunar south pole, built first with robotic missions (Chang'e 7 and 8) and later with crews, with a power reactor planned jointly with Russia for 2033–2035.
Key takeaways
- 1
Membership counts vary from 13 to 17 states and organisations, mostly countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the former Soviet space, plus some research institutions.
- 2
The Artemis Accords have 76 signatories.
- 3
The Moon is therefore splitting into two blocs with different legal readings, different hardware standards and almost no cooperation, because US law (the Wolf Amendment) restricts NASA from bilateral work with China.
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China's Lunar Programme: Chang'e, Mengzhou and Lanyue
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