South Africa has signed up to a Russian-Chinese initiative to establish a joint International Research Lunar Station, Chinese state media has reported.
"On September 1, the space agencies of China and South Africa signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation on the International Research Lunar Station, marking South Africa's official participation in the program," the media said.
China and South Africa, in particular, will reportedly conduct extensive collaboration on operations, engineering projects, and personnel training under the project.
Moscow and Beijing plan to develop the ILRS in two stages from 2025 to 2035.
The station will consist of several modules and will have the possibility of long-term unmanned operation with the prospect of human presence on the Moon.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said earlier that the International Lunar Research Station is open to all interested partners, and China will promote broad cooperation on the project.
China's space white paper published last January stated that Beijing will "continue studies and research on the plan for a human lunar landing and research key technologies to lay a foundation for exploring and developing cislunar space."