Future prospects of Azerbaijan's joining construction of International Scientific Lunar Station

Azerbaijan joined the Russian-Chinese joint project on the construction of the International Scientific Lunar Station (ILRS), Azernews reports.

It is worth noting that at the 74th International Astronautical Congress (IAC-2023) held in Baku from October 2 to 6, the space agencies of China and Azerbaijan signed a cooperation agreement on the MNLS project. Both parties agreed to strengthen cooperation on the implementation of the program, which includes the installation of scientific devices, provision of personnel training, and conducting of scientific and technological experiments.

To date, in addition to Azerbaijan, Pakistan, UAE, CAR, Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization and Switzerland's Nano-SPACE company have also joined the program.

According to the received information, the main model of the lunar station will be completed by 2028 and will be used for the study of the lunar surface and testing of the main systems and equipment of the mission. The station is planned to be further upgraded until 2040 when scientists make new discoveries about the nature of the Sun, Moon, and Earth. Possible improvements include the creation of a constellation of man-made satellites for future manned lunar landings and deep space exploration missions.

The economy related to space is a huge and promising industry. Many say that it is not the economy of today, but tomorrow, because currently space is a big void for us and we cannot reap the benefits of space comprehensively. However, developing technology makes this industry available to us gradually. Actually, despite the cosmos not being well investigated and explored in comparison to other spheres, day by day its new sub-branches emerge. It is obvious that the more we explore the cosmos, the more new specialties and branches will emerge in the economy and science that will broaden the horizon before humankind.

Besides, due to the potential of the industry, countries are competing with each other to become one of the space-industry-owning countries. However, despite the big potential of the industry, currently, satellite-related businesses are the main profitable sector in the industry and Azerbaijan is one of these countries. It is worth noting that Azerbaijan has been the first country to own the space industry in the region since 2010. However, the history of the space industry traces back to that date. During the Soviet Union, several companies in Azerbaijan manufactured types of equipment for space projects.

In addition, Azerbaijan is going to launch Azersky 2 into orbit next year. Surely, Azerbaijan will not limit its space industry capacity to three or four satellites but will develop and increase it further, because it enables Azerbaijan which suffers from Dutch Diseases to diversify its exports. Today, Azerbaijan exports only services, but if the country can revive its previous space industry, more precisely equipment production, the volume of its exports will increase as well. Moreover, more job places for high-tech engineers will be created. In a nutshell, Azerbaijan's joining the such a huge project can contribute to the creation of great opportunities, both today and in the distant future.