China Establishes International Deep Space Exploration Association (IDSEA)
Wu Weiren, chief designer of China’s lunar exploration project (CLEP) and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, has been appointed as the association’s first chairman.
Wu Weiren (left), chief designer of China's lunar exploration program (CLEP) and newly elected president of the International Deep Space Exploration Association (IDSEA), presents certificate of membership of the IDSEA to Simone Dell'Agnello, executive technologist at Italy's National Institute for Nuclear Physics, on July 7, 2025, in Hefei, East China's Anhui Province.
Guests unveil the plaque of the International Deep Space Exploration Association during the inauguration ceremony of the association in Hefei, East China's Anhui province, July 7, 2025.
Guests visit the show room of the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, July 7, 2025.
Guests visit the showroom of the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, July 7, 2025.
Guests visit the showroom of the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, July 7, 2025.
Guests visit the showroom of the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, July 7, 2025. This photo taken on July 7, 2025 shows an exterior view of the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province.
China's first international academic organization in the deep space sector was just established in Hefei City, Anhui Province, on Monday, July 7, 2025. It aims to foster closer exchanges and collaboration in the space sector. China launched the International Deep Space Exploration Association (IDSEA) with an aim to empower other developing countries in deep-space technologies. The association will be the nation's first international academic organization in the aerospace domain, capitalizing on the growing global interest in China's lunar and Mars missions.
IDSEA will help to mobilize global academic strength, advance scientific progress, promote mutual learning among civilizations, and build a community with a shared future for humanity in outer space.
"We strive to, within a decade, attract 500 international research members and 100,000 individual scientist members," Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration program and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, told CGTN. Wu Weiren is also the chief designer of China's Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP) and he is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Wu was elected as IDSEA's first chairman. He said the association will focus on areas, such as lunar exploration, planetary exploration, and asteroid defense.
The association will organize science outreach exhibitions, international education and training programs to cultivate global space science talent, publish academic journals, and oversee major scientific projects and awards for outstanding scientists, thereby inspiring scientific discovery and technological innovation worldwide, according to Wu. It will also participate in the development of outer space standards and norms to promote the peaceful use and long-term sustainable development of outer space, he added.
The IDSEA will focus on deep-space studies. This includes probes to the Moon, other planets and asteroids, and it will promote international cooperation, according to the Hefei-based Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, one of the association's five initiators.
China consistently provides opportunities for international cooperation, inviting global partners to join its projects—from Chang'e-6, -7 and -8 lunar exploration missions to Tianwen-3, -4 interplanetary projects, and even a future asteroid defense project.
Wang Zhongmin, director of the lab's international cooperation center, said the IDSEA aims to become an inclusive academic platform that will benefit developing countries in particular.
"We hope to bring in as many developing countries as possible, and by initiating small yet impactful programs, such as on CubeSat design and training of scientists, we hope to enable these nations to access cutting-edge space technologies that once seemed far beyond their reach," he said.
Deep-space exploration has long been limited to a few countries due to its high thresholds of capital, technologies and talents. "The vast majority of countries may see a technological monopoly. Deep space technologies must move out of the small circle to benefit the whole of humanity," Wang said.
The association is expected to boost international space cooperation by bringing individual space agencies together, guests at the IDSEA's launch ceremony told CGTN.
"Many countries are specialized in one thing . . . So it makes a lot of sense for everyone to collaborate with the rest of the world," said Simone Dell'Agnello, a researcher at Italy's National Institute for Nuclear Physics and a founding member of the IDSEA.
To balance cost and outcomes, international collaboration is essential. There are countries that specialize in instrument development, others in lander design, and still others in optical technologies.
"With this association, we will be able to reach all the international partners and scientists in one platform, so they will be aware of the ongoing and future missions," said Ahmet Hamdi Takan, an expert in Turkiye's Deep Space Science and Technology, also a founding member.
Hamdi said thanks to China's remarkable advancements, dedication, and peaceful invitation to collaborate on lunar and deep space exploration projects, we will be able to deploy the world's first AI-driven Smart Lunar Exploration Robots on the Moon in 2029 as part of the Chang'e-8 mission.
Despite being a latecomer to outer space exploration, China has rapidly emerged as a prominent player in this field, while demonstrating its commitment to cooperating with other nations.
In April 2025, China announced that seven institutions from six countries—France, Germany, Japan, Pakistan, the United Kingdom and the United States—have been authorized to borrow lunar samples collected by China's Chang'e-5 mission for scientific research.
China has also invited global partners to participate in its Mars missions. The country plans to launch the Tianwen-3 Mars sample-return mission around 2028, with the primary scientific goal of searching for signs of life on Mars. The retrieval of samples from Mars, the first of its kind in human history, is considered the most technically challenging space exploration mission since the Apollo program.
IDSEA was jointly initiated by the Hefei-based Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), the Chinese Society of Astronautics (CSA), the Chinese Society of Space Research and the French initiative "Planetary Exploration, Horizon 2061." The founding of the IDSEA was also co-sponsored by 20 academicians from China and 31 international scientists.
More than 100 scientists and representatives from the China National Space Administration (CNSA), the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Anhui provincial government, the China Association for Science and Technology and foreign embassies in China took part in the organization's founding ceremony. Sixteen international entities, including the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), and more than 70 government agencies, space organizations, research institutes and universities around the world sent congratulatory messages to the event.
The association's founding marks a significant milestone in China's international space exchange and cooperation, and represents joint efforts of innovation in the global space community.
Credits: CGTN/Xinhua
Release Date: July 8, 2025
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