MOSCOW, May 27. /TASS/. Russia's State Space Corporation Roscosmos and the China National Space Administration (CNSA) have invited partners to the project of an international scientific lunar station and expect a response at the Global Space Exploration Conference (GLEX) in St. Petersburg, Roscosmos Deputy Head for International Cooperation Sergei Savelyev told TASS on Thursday.

"We have sent out invitations for cooperation in the international scientific lunar station to a number of our respected partners, including the European Space Agency, for example," the Roscosmos official said.

The invitations have been sent out since early April this year when Roscosmos and CNSA unveiled a joint statement on the lunar station on the sidelines of the 58th session of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the UN Committee for Outer Space, Savelyev said.

"We are expecting to get the first response from our colleagues to the invitations at bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the GLEX-2021 conference," the Roscosmos official said.

The international lunar research station is open to all international partners interested in developing cooperation in this project, fostering scientific research exchanges, and assisting in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space in the interests of mankind, he added.

On March 9, Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos and the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced that they had signed a memorandum of mutual understanding on behalf of their governments on cooperation in creating an international scientific lunar station (ISLS). The signing ceremony was held via a video conference.

Russia and China are planning to use their joint experience and scientific technologies to create a roadmap for building a station on the Moon. Bilateral cooperation in this sphere envisages both studying the lunar surface and implementing joint projects in the orbit of the Earth's natural satellite.

The Global Space Exploration Conference was initially scheduled to take place in St. Petersburg on June 9-11, 2020 but was postponed to 2021 over the coronavirus pandemic. This forum is held annually in various countries. This year, St. Petersburg will host the Global Space Exploration Conference on June 14-18.

Russia, China to unveil roadmap of a lunar station at GLEX-2021

Roscosmos and the China National Space Administration will hold a presentation of a roadmap of the international scientific lunar station at the Global Space Exploration Conference-2021 (GLEX-2021) in St. Petersburg, the Roscosmos official said.

"On June 16, we are planning to hold a joint event of Roscosmos and CNSA devoted to the presentation of the roadmap for creating the international scientific lunar station," Savelyev said.

In November 2017, Roscosmos and CNSA signed a space cooperation program for 2018-2022. It comprises six sections: the study of the Moon and deep space, space research and related technologies, satellites and their use, the components base and materials, cooperation in the data of Earth's remote sensing and other issues. Working sub-groups were set up to implement projects under this program.