Global space exploration conference to begin in St. Petersburg
The annual Global Space Exploration Conference (GLEX) will begin today, lasting through June 18 in St. Petersburg, Russia.
GLEX brings together high-profile entrepreneurs, innovators and leaders from various countries to understand how investing in space exploration missions provides benefits which can be augmented through preparation and collaboration.
At the heart of the conference is Russia and China’s recent Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to build a shared international lunar research station (ILRS) by 2036. Russia’s Roscosmos and China’s National Space Agency (CNSA) have opened the project to collaboration with all countries and are hoping for some to join the project at GLEX ahead of their June 16 roadmap presentation. The MoU is a counterweight to the US-led Artemis Program, launched in 2017 to return humans to the moon and establish a permanent presence there.
Roscosmos and the CNSA aim to entice countries like Turkey and Saudi Arabia, who are eager to develop their own space capabilities, to join the project. The initial likelihood of countries joining their program is high, due to Russian-Chinese relations advancing rapidly and both countries possessing strong space exploration capabilities. Such actions increase the chances of a ‘new cold war’ in space in the long term.
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