NASA chief says cooperation with China in space is up to China

The possibility of cooperation with China in space is up to China, according to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

Nelson was asked about the potential of cooperation with China the moon during a heads of agencies press conference.

Nelson said that cooperation is up to China. There needs to be an openness there. There is a lack of transparency on the Chinese side, but he said that China and NASA have recently coordinated over issues.

NASA's Artemis moon landing worked.

The question of how the agencies might coordinate their plans was raised after NASA and China identified some of the same landing areas. Artemis 3 will return astronauts to the moon's surface for the first time since 1972 and is targeting launch in 2025.

There was no response from China to the issues in Paris. The profile of the vice administrator of the China National Space Administration was missing from the event pages before the event. The International Astronautical Federation told Space.com that Mr. Wu couldn't come due to a scheduling conflict.

While Nelson's comments at face value suggest NASA is open to a level of discussion, the agency is largely barred from engaging bilaterally with China.

There needs to be more discussions between the U.S. and China on space activities, especially on coordinating activities, but it will be hard, according to Brian Weeden, director of program planning for Secure World Foundation.

The Wolf amendment makes it more difficult for the U.S. and China to work together.

Nelson's comments on China's lunar plans sparked strong responses from Chinese state media.

The United States and China are both looking for partnerships to explore the moon, but their efforts will be separate.

NASA is promoting its Artemis Accords that lays out a framework for exploring the moon and is preparing to launch the Artemis 1 mission with crewed lunar missions to follow later in the decade The International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) is planned to be built with Russia and other partners in the 20th century.

NASA and China will try to communicate their intentions in multinational contexts. NASA is engaging with its international partners to understand their goals and interests in participating in future lunar surface activities.

A multi-national and collaborative infrastructure can be developed if we establish a presence near the south pole. The ISECG, which China is a member of, is where NASA discusses its plans for lunar exploration.

"Just as the lunar south pole is of scientific interest to NASA, it is also of scientific interest to other nations, so some overlap in regions is to be expected and is not a problem."

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