Is China interested in Russian rockets for space explorations?

(Image for representational purposes only)

New Delhi: After China was declared as possibly the only country to have a functioning space station by the year 2024, the country announced its plans to launch the experimental core module of its space station around 2018, with a Long March-5 heavyload carrier rocket.

This just goes to show that China is pretty active where its space programs are concerned and is leaving no stone unturned to become the world's leading space achiever.

Now, there are reports circulating which say that China is seeking a collaboration of sorts with Russia and are interested in purchasing Russian rockets for its space exploration programs.

This news has come in after the BRICS summit, which is a new collation of different countries and their space agencies. The countries include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

A report said that these alliance work well for China. Since China and Russia are both members of BRICS, the former's interest in the latter's space systems including rockets did not come as a surprise, Nature World News reported.

Beijing reportedly showed its interest towards Russian rockets during BRICS space agencies inaugural meeting held at the Chinese City of Zhuhai. The member nations Brazil, Russia, India, South Africa and China all agreed to cooperate in terms of space explorations.

Nature World News also quoted a statement issued by Russian space agency (ROSCOSMOS) head Igor Komarov, who said that, “ We think that, for our countries, going in this direction will allow us to increase the pool of information we receive about Earth by several times.”

The joint satellite system will harbor "immense" advantages for the members for natural disaster observation and environmental purposes. However, some fear that it could be used for military systems as well.

Another statement given by Koamarov confirmed that China might be using Russian rockets in the future for their space program.