The leader of China's lunar exploration program revealed the different steps that will have to be completed in order for the first manned mission to be carried out in order to reach the Moon.
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04/11/2026
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A China officially unveiled its plans for the lunar mission that will aim to place astronauts on the surface of the Moon by 2030, detailing the steps it will have to take to achieve the goal.
How does the Global Times, details were shared at an event in Beijing by China's lunar exploration program manager Wang Xiang, and the first step will be to test a new version of the Long March 10A rocket in Earth orbit.
The first releases are scheduled for the beginning of 2027 and will aim to bring supplies to the Chinese space station – to Tiangong.
The purpose of these first missions is to collect data on the performance of the Long March 10A and, once demonstrated reliability, in 2028 a mission should be completed in order not only to reach the Moon, but also to land on the Earth's natural satellite.
Note that this mission will not yet count on crew, with China seeking only to test whether all developed systems will be able to take the astronauts to the Moon safely. It is important to stress that, in addition to landing, the rocket will also have to take off for the mission to be considered a success.
A new mission is planned in 2029 to test the same systems, and this mission will consist of sending two rockets: one with the three astronauts who will be part of the mission and the other with the lunar module that will be used to explore the surface of the Moon.
With the revelation of these plans it is clear that the Chinese space agency does not want to stay behind in relation to the US, which has plans to launch its manned mission in 2028 with the Artemis IV mission.