Moon Colony? Chinese, European Space Programs May Establish Lunar Base

Dreams of colonizing the Moon that seem to have been forgotten may be revived.

Rumors the European Space Agency and China's space agency might be looking to build a lunar base were confirmed by an ESA spokesman Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.

Read: The Next International Space Station Will Orbit The Moon

The ESA's director general previously has described the possible "Moon Village" as a collective environment for exploration. The village would serve as a location for a community of international researchers looking to work together. He also proposed the village as a jumping off point or "springboard" for future deep space exploration.

China and the United States don't work together in space because of national security concerns. A U.S. law was passed in 2011 barring the collaboration of the two countries on the International Space Station.

This may or may not be the reason behind the somewhat stunted progression of the Chinese space program. China sent its first man into space in 2003, more than 40 years after the first Russian cosmonaut.

Only recently did China send its first unmanned cargo spacecraft to its Tiangong-2 unmanned space station. The cargo ship was launched to the Tiangong-2 last week to prepare the station for use. The craft is practicing attaching and detaching from the station as well as conducting experiments while in orbit.

China has publicly said it plans to reach the dark side of the Moon by 2018 and Mars by 2020. A "moon village" may be the key to accomplishing both of these goals with the help of the ESA.