At a shopping mall in Beijing, a giant screen shows taikonauts saluting inside the Tianhe core module of China's space station in 2021. Some of the names used with China's space program also allude to the moon's deep cultural significance. A lunar lander's successful trial in 2025 for extraterrestrial landing and takeoff at a site in Huailai county, in Hebei province, marks a key step in the development of China's lunar exploration program. "An important question for the ILRS is power supply, and in this Russia has a natural advantage," Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration program, told Reuters in 2025. This cooperation culminated in the International Space Station, which the US and Russia still jointly operate.