Bakanov announced the unification of 13 countries with Russia and China to create a lunar station

13 countries, including BRICS, joined Russia and China in the work on the creation of an International Scientific lunar Station. This was announced on April 29 by the head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Bakanov, at a meeting of the heads of space agencies of the BRICS countries.

"Our joint initiative with China to create an International Scientific lunar Station is actively developing. It has already been joined by 13 countries (Belarus, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Venezuela, South Africa, Egypt, Thailand, Serbia, Nicaragua, Senegal, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Bolivia), including colleagues from BRICS (Egypt, Ethiopia, South Africa)," TASS quoted him as saying.

According to Baranov, Russia has unique scientific schools for the study of Venus, the Moon and Mars, and its landing technologies have no analogues in the world yet. This can become the basis for international BRICS programs.

In addition, he recalled the achievements of China, India and the UAE in the exploration of Mars and the Moon and expressed hope for the growth of joint programs that will be more efficient and economical. The Roscosmos CEO called for cooperation in staff training and the development of student programs, noting that more than 85,000 BRICS students study at Russian universities.

The Government's Legislative Commission approved the ratification of the agreement with China on the establishment of the International Scientific Lunar Station (ISS) on November 29, 2023. This program provides ways to avoid technical and financial risks when working with research and applied projects on the Earth's natural satellite.

Later, on May 8, 2024, the former CEO of Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, said that Russia had begun developing a power plant for a joint lunar station with China.