from Dailymail.co.uk:
- Tian Yulong, secretary general for China’s space agency, confirmed the plans
- ESA has described its ‘Moon Village’ as a launching pad for missions to Mars
- The lunar site could also support space mining missions and even tourism
- It could also act as a ‘pit stop’ for the further exploration of deep space
China is talking with the European Space Agency about collaborating on a human settlement on the moon.
The secretary general for China‘s space agency, Tian Yulong, disclosed the talks today in Chinese state media.
The ESA has previously described its ‘Moon Village’ as a potential international launching pad for future missions to Mars.
Further details on what the collaboration could entail were not revealed.
But last year, the head of the ESA elaborated on plans to build a village on the moon.
‘The future of space travel needs a new vision,’ said Jan Woerner.
The concept is a base for lunar exploration by humans and robots, which would act as a stopover for spacecraft, and become a ‘village’ with mining and even tourism.
‘The future of space travel needs a new vision.
‘Right now we have the Space Station as a common international project, but it won’t last forever,’ said Woerner.
‘If I say Moon Village, it does not mean single houses, a church, a town hall and so on. No, that would be misleading.
‘My idea only deals with the core of the concept of a village: people working and living together in the same place.
‘And this place would be on the Moon.