MOSCOW — Sixty-three years ago, the Soviet Union put the first satellite in space. It fell behind NASA in the space race that followed, but even after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia remained a reliable space power, joining with the United States to build and operate the International Space Station for the last two decades. Now, the future of the Russian space program rests with the world’s new space power, China. After years of promises and some limited cooperation, Russia and China have begun to draw up ambitious plans for missions that would directly compete with those of the United States and its partners, ushering in a new era of space competition that could be as intense as the first. They are coordinating a series of lunar missions intended to build a permanent research base on the south pole of the moon by 2030.

Source: International New York Times June 15, 2021 13:32 UTC