China to Launch International Space Exploration Association
Collaborative projects could begin to increase next week.
Xinhua reported on July 1st that China will launch the International Deep Space Exploration Association (IDSEA) on Monday, July 7th 2025. The association is set to be located in Hefei (合肥市), Anhui province (安徽), already a hub for established future industries, as the country’s first international academic organization for space.
IDSEA is planned to capitalize on the growing global interest in China's lunar and Mars exploration missions, according to the reports, as well as focusing on deep-space studies, including sending spacecraft to the Moon, planets, and asteroids. The association will also promote international cooperation, with the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory (深空探测实验室), one of the association's five initiators (the other four have not been named publicly at the time of writing), involved.
China’s Deep Space Exploration Laboratory was declared operational a few years ago in 2022, established by the China National Space Administration, Anhui Province, and the University of Science and Technology of China, to focus on developing technologies and performing research regarding deep space exploration. The laboratory was founded with the goal of becoming a major space research center in China, along with being an innovation hub to perform international collaboration. In line with this policy, Wang Zhongmin (王中民), Director of the laboratory’s International Cooperation Center, stated the following regarding IDSEA:
"We hope to bring in as many developing countries as possible, and by initiating small yet impactful programs, such as on CubeSat design and training of scientists, we hope to enable these nations to access cutting-edge space technologies that once seemed far beyond their reach,” — “The vast majority of countries may see a technological monopoly. Deep space technologies must move out of the small circle to benefit the whole of humanity.”
Wang comments are consistent with country’s wider space policy, explained by the China National Space Administration’s Administator Shan Zhongde (单忠德) as based in principles of equality, mutual benefits, peaceful utilization and win-win cooperation, as well as being highlighted by China's Representative to the United Nations, Fu Cong (傅聪), in 2024:
“Outer space is not the private property of a few countries, but the common asset of all humankind,” — “It is not an arena for countries to fight each other, but a new frontier for mutually beneficial cooperation.”
Furthermore, Wu Weiren (吴伟仁) shared a similar sentiment when inviting India to perform joint lunar missions and the International Lunar Research Station1:
“The Moon belongs to all human beings. Therefore we welcome all scientists in the world to participate into the ILRS.” — “We welcome international cooperation on our deep space exploration missions. Every country can apply.”
Xinhua’s report also highlighted that, despite China being a latecomer to space exploration, the country has quickly emerged as a prominent nation in space while repeatedly cooperating with other countries. This is best illustrated through the continually expanding international involvement around the Chang’e lunar missions, with participation as follows:
Chang’e 4: The Lunar Lander Neutrons and Dosimetry instrument from Germany, and the Netherlands–China Low-Frequency Explorer.
Chang’e 5: Lunar surface samples shared with the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris in France, the University of Cologne in Germany, Osaka University in Japan, Pakistan's Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission, the Open University in the United Kingdom, as well as the United States' Brown University and Stony Brook University.
Chang’e 6: SUPARCO provided the ICUBE-Q CubeSat, CNES provided the French-made Detection of Outgassing Radon instrument, Sweden provided the Negative Ions on Lunar Surface instrument, and Italy provided the INstrument for landing-Roving laser Retroreflector Investigations instrument.
Chang’e 7: A Lunar Surface Material Hyperspectral Imager from Egypt and Bahrain, the Moon-based Dual-channel Earth Radiation Spectrometer from Switzerland, a Space Weather Global Monitoring Sensor Device from Thailand, a Laser Corner Reflector Array from Italy, a Lunar Dust and Electric Field Probe from Russia, and a Moon-based Astronomical Observation Telescope from Hawai’i. (Future mission)
Chang’e 8: Pakistan and the International Society for Terrain-Vehicle Systems are providing a lunar rover, Türkiye is jointly developing an environmentally intelligent exploration robot, South Africa and Peru are providing a radio astronomy array, and Italy is providing a laser retroreflector. Russia is providing a lunar ion and high-energy neutral particle analyzer, Thailand is providing a lunar neutron analyzer, Bahrain and Egypt are providing a lunar surface visible light and infrared video system, and Iran is providing a monitor for lunar electric potentials. (Future mission)
The European Space Agency has also supported various Chang’e missions on their way to and from the Moon via its network of satellite communication sites in exchange for scientific data sharing.
Beyond lunar missions, Pakistan is preparing to visit the Tiangong Space Station, Brazil has been a consistent collaborator through the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite program, France operates a joint space observatory, Indonesia is working with a few Chinese enterprises for the country’s first hyperspectral satellite and remote sensing constellation, and Italy is jointly operating two scientific satellites with China. In Africa, Nigeria has utilized two Chinese-built and launched geostationary communication satellites, while Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, and Algeria have received satellite and space technology assistance from China.
Like China’s previous space cooperation efforts, the IDSEA is set to provide space exploration personnel training, technology transfer, and opportunities to nations in the Global South2. The space initiative follows China's established policy of offering developing countries access to advanced technologies through partnerships, as it has done with telecommunications infrastructure and renewable energy solutions.
IDSEA may be attractive to African, Latin American, and Southeast Asian nations looking to establish their own space programs without the high costs and technological barriers that have traditionally limited space exploration to a handful of wealthy nations.
Led by China, with members including Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Serbia, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, Thailand, Venezuela, Kazakhstan, and Senegal, as well as many unnamed sub-national organisations, to establish a robotic and crewed outpost on the lunar surface to perform scientific research.
The Global South is a synonym for terms such as developing countries, least-developed countries, underdeveloped countries, low-income economies, or the out-of-favor third world countries. Like these related terms, Global South is used to describe countries whose economies are not yet fully developed and which face challenges such as low per capita income, excessive unemployment, and a lack of valuable capital. (World Population Review)