A, in preparation for the first manned landing on the South Pole of the Moon in 2028, amid the intensification of the space race between the United States and China.
China has only sent robots to the Moon to date, but these missions have highlighted the country’s rapidly improving space capabilities and will play a key role in achieving its goal of sending an astronaut to the Moon by 2030.
Although China has kept the details under wraps, here’s what we know about the country’s manned lunar exploration program.
Current status of the program
China is preparing all the necessary equipment to carry out a manned landing. Last August, it tested the lunar module that hopes to take the first Chinese to the Moon by 2030.
The lander’s ascent and descent systems underwent a thorough check at a site in Hebei province designed to simulate the lunar surface. The test surface had a special coating to imitate the reflectivity of the lunar soil, in addition to being covered with rocks and craters.
The lunar module, known as Lanyue, which means “embracing the moon” in Mandarin, will be used to transport astronauts between lunar orbit and the Moon’s surface, as well as serve as a habitable space, power source and data center after landing on the Moon, according to China’s manned space agency.
Other important equipment and vehicles that are in active testing and development include the Long March 10 large rocket, which will place the Mengzhou manned spacecraft into orbit, as well as special lunar spacesuits and manned rovers, along with lunar remote sensing satellites and new ground systems to support the mission’s navigation and communications with Earth.
What happens after 2030
A successful manned landing before 2030 would boost China’s plans to build a “basic model” International Lunar Research Station by 2035, which would include a “comprehensive scientific facility” and “a certain scale of development and resource utilization,” according to Wu Weiren, chief designer of China’s lunar exploration program.
This manned base, led by China and Russia, could include a nuclear reactor on the surface of the Moon as a source of energy.
Wu also stated, in a 2024 speech, that, by 2045, the ILRS would have been expanded to include a “lunar orbital station as a center”, which could be used to carry out “in-depth resource development and utilization, as well as relevant technical verification and scientific experimental research for manned landing on Mars”.
Setting the stage for robots
China’s manned lunar mission will rely heavily on data collected by the country’s unmanned lunar missions. In June 2024, China became the first country to collect lunar samples from the far side of the Moon, after sending the Chang’e-6 spacecraft to the Aitken-South Pole basin.
Two more missions, Chang’e-7 and Chang’e-8, will be carried out before 2030 and will give Beijing the opportunity to collect more information about the part of the Moon where China hopes to send an astronaut and eventually establish a permanent human presence.
China’s unmanned missions to the Moon in recent years have allowed the country to become the only nation to collect lunar samples from both the visible and far sides of the Moon.
