The National Council of Universities (UNC), under the control of Daniel Ortega’s dictatorship, signed a cooperation agreement with the China Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, which will give rise to the development at the International Lunar Research Station.
According to the official media report, the agreement is a memorandum of understanding, which states that both sides will cooperate in the development of the International Lunar Research Station, to help build a community with a shared future for humanity in the field of outer space.
The Lunar Research Station is an ambitious project of the Asian giant, which has the support of the Russian space agency (Roscosmos), and seeks the “cooperation” of different countries, although so far, according to reports, only a handful of countries – such as the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela and South America, have joined.
Experimental phase
The agreement signed between the UNC and the Chinese defines the International Lunar Research Station as an installation of comprehensive scientific experiments proposed by China and jointly constructed by many countries, which operates autonomously on the lunar surface and in lunar orbit for a long period of time, with short-term human participation, and is scalable and maintainable.
It is equipped with energy guarantee capabilities, central control, communication and navigation, space-to-surface round trip, scientific lunar surface research and ground support and continuously conduct multidisciplinary, multi-purpose and large-scale scientific and technological activities.
The memorandum of understanding entered into force from its signature and will be valid for a period of five years, according to official information.
They’ll form equipment.
According to the document, both sides will cooperate extensively in the demonstration, implementation of engineering, operation and application of the lunar research station.
Specific areas of cooperation will be: joint demonstration of scientific objectives, joint design and development, the boarding of scientific instruments, scientific and technical experiments, data exchange and analysis, education and training, and the development of space exploration capabilities.
To do this, Nicaragua and China will form an expert team to carry out research in science, engineering and international cooperation; in addition to educational and research opportunities for teachers, students and experts.
Ramona Rodríguez Pérez, president of the National Council of Universities (CNU) signs the memorandún of lunar cooperation with a delegate of the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory of China. Photo of the official media of Daniel Ortega’s dictatorship
The agreement was signed by the president of the UNC and rector of the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN-Managua), Ramona Rodríguez Pérez, and a delegate of the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory of China, of whom the name is not mentioned.
Competence to reach the Moon
With its lunar station project, China plans to build in early 2030, using overheavy launch vehicles, a permanent base on the moon or orbiting the satellite, and sending astronauts.
The program to reach the moon and create a satellite station orbiting Earth is also a competition between large countries. The United States is trying through the Artemis program, which aims to return American astronauts to the moon in 2025 and build a science base camp there.
So far this celestial body has been one of the least explored, despite the fact that in 1969 the United States became the first country – and so far the only one to put a human being on the Moon.
The main rival for the U.S. bet. The U.S. is China, which could surpass the US power, as it has achieved highs since 2013. In 2019 he posed a ship on the hidden face of the Moon and in 2020 managed to return a ship with lunar samples, an operation that had not been achieved in more than 40 years.
By this 2024, the Asian giant has the mission of bringing lunar samples to Earth.
Nicaragua has its law of outer space, the Moon and other celestial bodies.
In 2021, dictator Ortega ordered the National Assembly to be approved, also under its control, the Law that created the National Secretariat for Outer Space Affairs, the Moon and Other Celestes Corps. This initiative, which was not re-estated about its actions, is supposed to allow the State of Nicaragua to follow up on the implementation of the commitments arising from international instruments, in which Nicaragua is a State party, will also make it possible to formulate, propose and implement the broad lines of policy in outer space matters, the moon and other celestial bodies, according to official information.
The Ortega Murillo dictatorship officially established relations with China on December 9, 2021, to the detriment of diplomatic relations with Taiwan. The Ortega regime and China’s regime share the same authoritarian, repressive practices, the single-party model and the cult of personality of its rulers.
This article has been translated from the original which first appeared in La Prensa NI