Russia, China Move Forward on Space Cooperation

BEIJING (Interfax-China) - Russia-Chinese space cooperation is rising to a fundamentally new level, Federal Space Agency chief Anatoly Perminov told Russian reporters in Beijing on Wednesday.

"A transition is visible in Russian-Chinese space relations to a qualitatively new standard of planning and implementing joint projects," Perminov said after attending a session of the bilateral subcommittee on space cooperation on Monday.

Twenty-nine new projects were added to the cooperation program for 2004-06, Perminov said. China is showing interest in the international space observatory and Phobos-Soil, he said. Chances for interaction in the Chinese program of Moon studies are also being considered, he said.

Perminov told reporters the Russian delegation was shown the cosmonaut training center and the Shenzhou-6 spacecraft, on which China plans to make its second manned flight.

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