China to lend moon rocks to Nasa-funded US universities

China's national space agency announced on Thursday it will let scientists from the US and allied countries analyse rocks it retrieved from the moon, Beijing's latest move to increase the international influence of its lunar exploration programme.

The announcement highlights how US-China co-operation in some areas such as space has not completely ended despite tensions between the two countries over geopolitics and tariffs.

Two US universities that receive Nasa funding, Brown University and the State University of New York at Stony Brook, are among the seven institutions that have been allowed to borrow lunar samples China retrieved from the moon in 2020. The other authorised institutions are from Japan, France, Germany, Britain and Pakistan.

With its uncrewed Chang'e-5 mission in 2020 China became the third country to collect rocks from the lunar surface, joining the Soviet Union and the US, which last went to the moon and retrieved samples in 1972.

China's subsequent uncrewed Chang'e-6 mission, completed in June last year, made it the first country to bring back rocks from the side of the moon facing away from Earth.

US-China co-operation on space has long been deterred by a 2011 US law that seeks to ensure American technologies stay out of the hands of China's military. Under the law, Nasa must work with the FBI to certify to Congress that any such talks with China would not threaten US national security.

Nasa head Bill Nelson told Reuters in October Nasa and the China National Space Administration (CNSA) were discussing the terms of Beijing's loan agreement for the Chang'e-5 moon rocks after he assured American legislators the talks would not pose national security concerns.

Four US universities applied for access to the Chang'e-5 samples, Nelson said then, adding he thought the talks would end with China agreeing to provide access to samples. However, he said he expects Nasa to have to work with the FBI for another national security certification to enable any moon rock deliveries to US universities for research.

Beijing hopes to use its space prowess to forge closer political ties with close partners and US allies. 

“It seems the US is closed off now despite being open in the past, while we were closed off in the past and are now open. This is because of the increase in our nation's strength and consequent rise in self-confidence,” Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration programme, told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday, adding that growing US “isolationism” would not help its space ambitions.

A CNSA official said on Wednesday the Chang'e-4 and 6 missions had four international payloads, while the Chang'e-7 mission next year will have six international payloads and “co-operation with 10 countries” is being discussed for the subsequent Chang'e-8 mission.

China hopes Chang'e-7 and 8 can help provide the information it needs to decide where and how to build a permanent manned lunar base by 2035.

Reuters