TechnologyChina to build moon station in 'about 10 years'

© - China became the first nation to land a rover on the far side of the moon when its Chang'e-4 touched down in January

Beijing plans to send a manned mission to the moon and to build a research station there within the next decade, state media reported Wednesday, citing a top space official.

China aims to achieve space superpower status and took a major step towards that goal when it became the first nation to land a rover on the far side of the moon in January.

It now plans to build a scientific research station on the moon's south pole within the next 10 years, China National Space Administration head Zhang Kejian said during a speech marking "Space Day", the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Israel's first spacecraft to moon sends selfie

An Israeli spacecraft on its maiden mission to the moon has sent its first selfie back to Earth, mission chiefs said on Tuesday. require(["medianetNativeAdOnArticle"], function (medianetNativeAdOnArticle) { medianetNativeAdOnArticle.getMedianetNativeAds(true); }); The image showing part of the Beresheet spacecraft with Earth in the background was beamed to mission control in Yehud, Israel -- 37,600 kilometres (23,360 miles) away, the project's lead partners said in a statement.

China aims to achieve space superpower status and took a major step towards that goal when it became the first nation to land a rover on the far side of the moon in January. It now plans to build a scientific research station on the moon 's south pole within the next 10 years , China National Space

China aims to achieve space superpower status and took a major step towards that goal when it became the first nation to land a rover on the far side of the moon in January. It now plans to build a scientific research station on the moon 's south pole within the next 10 years , China National Space

He also added that Beijing plans to launch a Mars probe by 2020 and confirmed that a fourth lunar probe, the Chang'e-5, will be launched by the end of the year.

Originally scheduled to collect moon samples in the second half of 2017, the Chang'e-5 was delayed after its planned carrier, the powerful Long March 5 Y2 rocket, failed during a separate launch in July 2017.

China on Wednesday also announced its Long March-5B rocket will make its maiden flight in the first half of 2020, carrying the core parts of a planned space station.

The Tiangong -- or "Heavenly Palace" -- will go into orbit in 2022, the China Manned Space Engineering Office said.

It is set to replace the International Space Station -- a collaboration between the United States, Russia, Canada, Europe and Japan -- which is due to be retired in 2024.

Beijing last week also said it would launch an asteroid exploration mission and invited collaborators to place their experiments on the probe.

The current Chang'e-4 moon lander carried equipment from Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.

China now spends more on its civil and military space programmes than do Russia and Japan, and is second only to the United States. Although opaque, its 2017 budget was estimated at $8.4 billion by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

MND wins 110 ME contract to create ski resort in China

MND's leaders did not make the trip to China for nothing, where the Alpitec fair dedicated to the mountain trades is being held. The Savoyard company announced last night an important strategic partnership with a Chinese state group and a record contract.

MND's new ally is CCZMM (China Coal Zhangjiakou Coal Mining Machinery), a subsidiary of China Coal Group, a mining equipment specialist. A joint venture will be created with MND majority ownership (80%). It will be responsible for producing and assembling for MND part of the equipment intended for the Chinese market and more broadly for the Asian zone. CCZMM will supply the production tool, in exchange for which MND will grant the joint venture an exclusive license to exploit its patents and trademarks for the Chinese market. MND's French industrial sites will supply the joint venture with all high security or technology-specific components and subassemblies. Commercial networks and partners in China will be pooled. The Chinese group has a state-of-the-art production site in Zhangjiakou, which is one of the host cities with Beijing of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

"Snowland", a new ski resort in China

MND Zhangjiakou Mountain Development , or "MND ZMD" is the name of the joint venture, has planned to start very quickly its activity. It will take advantage of the historic contract announced in parallel by MND. The first is singular: it is to create from A to Z a ski resort on a virgin site northwest of Beijing. The budget represents 110 ME over three years. MND ZMD will develop the mountain, install the ski lifts and equip 55 km of slopes with safety and snow equipment, The ski area, called "Snowland", will be able to host international competitions and will offer a full panel outdoor leisure activities. MND will create a dedicated project team with European and local experts. The phasing of the contract provides for a gradual ramp-up, with a contribution of around 20 ME in the 2017/2018 financial year, 40 ME in the 2018/2019 financial year and the balance in 2019/2020. The first phase includes the construction of 3 chair lifts, a fun learning area for skiing, around 15km of snow-covered slopes, safety and signage equipment, and a multi-activity outdoor leisure area. The second agreement was signed by the Wanlong station in China, for a new generation 8-place detachable gondola. MND had already won a contract for 120 snowguns with this station in 2015. The gondola will be completed in 2018/2019.

MND's CEO, Xavier Gallot-Lavallée, believes that the partnership signed with CCZMM "constitutes a major step forward" to feed the ambitions of his group in Asia. The choice fell on CCZMM for its reputation and "the recognized performance of its production line", which is closer to one of the base camps of Winter Olympics 2022.

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