The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP; ), also known as the Chang'e Project () after the Chinese moon goddess
Chang'e
Chang'e ( ; , alternatively rendered as Chang-Er or Ch‘ang-o), originally known as Heng'e, is the Chinese goddess of the Moon. She is the subject of several legends in Chinese mythology, most of which incorporate several of the following elem ...
, is an ongoing series of
robotic
Robotics is an interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist human ...
Moon missions by the
China National Space Administration
China National Space Administration (CNSA; ) is the government agency of the People's Republic of China that is responsible for civil space administration and international space cooperation, including organizing or leading foreign exchanges ...
(CNSA). The program incorporates lunar
orbiter
A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, pl ...
s,
landers
Landers may refer to:
People
* Landers (surname), a list of people surnamed Landers (including fictional people)
Places
* Landers, California, United States
* Landers Peaks, group of peaks in the northern portion of Alexander Island, Antarct ...
,
rovers and
sample return spacecraft, launched using
Long March rockets. Launches and flights are monitored by a telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C) system, which uses radio antennas in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
and antennas in
Kunming
Kunming (; ), also known as Yunnan-Fu, is the capital and largest city of Yunnan province, China. It is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province as well as the seat of the provincial government. The headquar ...
,
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
, and
Ürümqi
Ürümqi ( ; also spelled Ürümchi or without umlauts), formerly known as Dihua (also spelled Tihwa), is the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the far northwest of the People's Republic of China. Ürümqi developed its ...
to form a
VLBI
Very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) is a type of astronomical interferometry used in radio astronomy. In VLBI a signal from an astronomical radio source, such as a quasar, is collected at multiple radio telescopes on Earth or in space. T ...
antenna. A proprietary ground application system is responsible for downlink data reception.
Ouyang Ziyuan
Ouyang Ziyuan (, born 9 October 1935) is a Chinese cosmochemist, geochemist and space advocate. He is a research professor at the Institute of Geochemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Asteroid 8919 Ouyangziyuan, discovered in 1996, was ...
, a geologist,
chemical cosmologist, and the program's chief scientist, was among the first to advocate the exploitation not only of known lunar reserves of metals such as
titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...
, but also of
helium-3
Helium-3 (3He see also helion) is a light, stable isotope of helium with two protons and one neutron (the most common isotope, helium-4, having two protons and two neutrons in contrast). Other than protium (ordinary hydrogen), helium-3 is the ...
, an ideal fuel for future
nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei are combined to form one or more different atomic nuclei and subatomic particles ( neutrons or protons). The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manifest ...
power plants.
Ye Peijian
Ye Peijian (; born January 1945) is a Chinese aerospace engineer. He is the Chief Commander and Chief Designer of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program.
Career
Ye was born in Huzhuang Village, Taixing, Jiangsu, China, in January 1945. In 1962, ...
serves as the program's chief commander and chief designer. Scientist
Sun Jiadong
Sun Jiadong (; born 8 April 1929) is a Chinese aerospace engineer who is an expert in carrier rocket and satellite technology. He has long served as a leader of Chinese satellite projects, and is currently the chief designer for the Chinese Lunar ...
is the program's general designer and Sun Zezhou is deputy general designer. The leading program manager is Luan Enjie.
The first spacecraft of the program, the
Chang'e 1
Chang'e 1 (; ) was an unmanned Chinese lunar-orbiting spacecraft, part of the first phase of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program. The spacecraft was named after the Chinese Moon goddess, Chang'e.
Chang'e 1 was launched on 24 October 2007 at 10 ...
lunar orbiter, was launched from
Xichang Satellite Launch Center
The Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC), also known as the Xichang Space Center, is a spaceport of China. It is located in Zeyuan Town (), approximately northwest of Xichang, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan.
The facility beca ...
on 24 October 2007, having been delayed from the initial planned date of 17–19 April 2007. A second orbiter,
Chang'e 2
Chang'e 2 (; ) is a Chinese unmanned lunar probe that was launched on 1 October 2010. It was a follow-up to the Chang'e 1 lunar probe, which was launched in 2007. Chang'e 2 was part of the first phase of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, and ...
, was launched on 1 October 2010.
Chang'e 3
Chang'e 3 (; ) is a robotic lunar exploration mission operated by the China National Space Administration (CNSA), incorporating a robotic lander and China's first lunar rover. It was launched in December 2013 as part of the second phase of ...
, which includes a lander and rover, was launched on 1 December 2013 and successfully soft-landed on the Moon on 14 December 2013.
Chang'e 4
Chang'e 4 (; ) is a robotic spacecraft mission, part of the second phase of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program. China achieved humanity's first soft landing on the far side of the Moon, on 3 January 2019.
A communication relay satellite, ...
, which includes a lander and rover, was launched on 7 December 2018 and landed on 3 January 2019 on the
South Pole-Aitken Basin
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...
, on the far side of the Moon. A sample return mission,
Chang'e 5
Chang'e 5 () was the fifth lunar exploration mission of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, and China's first lunar sample-return mission. Like its predecessors, the spacecraft is named after the Chinese moon goddess Chang'e. It launched ...
, which launched on 23 November 2020 and returned on 16 December in the same year, brought 1,731 g (61.1 oz) of
lunar sample
Moon rock or lunar rock is rock originating from Earth's Moon. This includes lunar material collected during the course of human exploration of the Moon, and rock that has been ejected naturally from the Moon's surface and landed on Earth as ...
s back to earth.
As indicated by the official insignia, the shape of a
calligraphic
Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as ...
nascent lunar crescent with two human footprints at its center reminiscent of the
Chinese character
Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the Written Chinese, writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are k ...
, the Chinese character for "Moon", the ultimate objective of the program is to pave the way for a
crewed mission
Human spaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight) is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be ...
to the Moon. China National Space Administration head
Zhang Kejian
Zhang Kejian (; born July 1961) is a Chinese politician and engineer currently serving as the Director of the China National Space Administration.
Zhang was born in Kunshan, Jiangsu province. He joined the Communist Party in June 1992, ten years ...
announced that China is planning to build a
scientific research station on the
Moon's south pole "within the next 10 years," (2019–2029).
Program structure
The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program is divided into four main operational phases, with each mission serving as a technology demonstrator in preparation for future missions. International cooperation in the form of various payloads and a robotic station is invited by China.
Phase I: Orbital missions
The first phase entailed the launch of two
lunar orbit
In astronomy, lunar orbit (also known as a selenocentric orbit) is the orbit of an object around the Moon.
As used in the space program, this refers not to the orbit of the Moon about the Earth, but to orbits by spacecraft around the Moon. The ...
ers, and is now effectively complete.
*
Chang'e 1
Chang'e 1 (; ) was an unmanned Chinese lunar-orbiting spacecraft, part of the first phase of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program. The spacecraft was named after the Chinese Moon goddess, Chang'e.
Chang'e 1 was launched on 24 October 2007 at 10 ...
, launched on 24 October 2007 aboard a
Long March 3A
The Long March 3A (), also known as the Chang Zheng 3A, CZ-3A and LM-3A, is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket design. It is a 3-stage rocket, and is usually used to place communications satellites and Beidou navigation satellites into geosynchron ...
rocket, scanned the entire Moon in unprecedented detail, generating a high definition 3D map that would provide a reference for future soft landings. The probe also mapped the abundance and distribution of various chemical elements on the lunar surface as part of an evaluation of potentially useful resources.
*
Chang'e 2
Chang'e 2 (; ) is a Chinese unmanned lunar probe that was launched on 1 October 2010. It was a follow-up to the Chang'e 1 lunar probe, which was launched in 2007. Chang'e 2 was part of the first phase of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, and ...
, launched on 1 October 2010 aboard a
Long March 3C
The Long March 3C (), also known as the Changzheng 3C, CZ-3C and LM-3C, is a Chinese orbital launch vehicle. It is launched from Launch Complex 2 and 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC). A three-stage rocket with two strapon liquid ...
rocket, reached the Moon in under 5 days, compared to 12 days for Chang'e 1, and mapped the Moon in even greater detail. It then left lunar orbit and headed for the Earth–Sun
Lagrangian point
In celestial mechanics, the Lagrange points (; also Lagrangian points or libration points) are points of equilibrium for small-mass objects under the influence of two massive orbiting bodies. Mathematically, this involves the solution of th ...
in order to test the TT&C network. Having done that it completed a flyby of asteroid
4179 Toutatis on 13 December 2012, before heading into deep space to further test the TT&C network.
Phase II: Soft landers/rovers
The second phase is ongoing, and incorporates spacecraft capable of
soft-landing on the Moon and deploying
lunar rover
A lunar rover or Moon rover is a space exploration vehicle designed to move across the surface of the Moon. The Apollo Program's Lunar Roving Vehicle was driven on the Moon by members of three American crews, Apollo 15, 16, and 17. Other rov ...
s.
*
Chang'e 3
Chang'e 3 (; ) is a robotic lunar exploration mission operated by the China National Space Administration (CNSA), incorporating a robotic lander and China's first lunar rover. It was launched in December 2013 as part of the second phase of ...
, launched on 2 December 2013 aboard a
Long March 3B
The Long March 3B (, ''Chang Zheng 3B''), also known as the CZ-3B and LM-3B, is a Chinese orbital launch vehicle. Introduced in 1996, it is launched from Launch Area 2 and 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan. A three-stage rocke ...
rocket, landed on the Moon on 14 December 2013. It carried with it a lunar rover named
''Yutu'', which was designed to explore an area of during a 3-month mission. It was also supposed to conduct ultra-violet observations of galaxies, active galactic nuclei, variable stars, binaries, novae, quasars, and blazars, as well as the structure and dynamics of the Earth's
plasmasphere
The plasmasphere, or inner magnetosphere, is a region of the Earth's magnetosphere consisting of low-energy (cool) plasma. It is located above the ionosphere. The outer boundary of the plasmasphere is known as the plasmapause, which is defined ...
.
*
Chang'e 4
Chang'e 4 (; ) is a robotic spacecraft mission, part of the second phase of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program. China achieved humanity's first soft landing on the far side of the Moon, on 3 January 2019.
A communication relay satellite, ...
was launched on 7 December 2018. Originally scheduled for 2015, was a back-up for Chang'e 3. However, as a result of the success of that mission, the configuration of Chang'e 4 was adjusted for the next mission. It landed on 3 January 2019 on the
South Pole-Aitken Basin
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...
, on the
far side of the Moon
The far side of the Moon is the lunar hemisphere that always faces away from Earth, opposite to the Near side of the Moon, near side, because of synchronous rotation in the Moon's orbit. Compared to the near side, the far side's terrain is ru ...
, and deployed the ''
Yutu-2
''Yutu-2'' is the robotic lunar rover component of CNSA's Chang'e 4 mission to the Moon, launched on 7 December 2018 18:23 UTC, it entered lunar orbit on 12 December 2018 before making the first soft landing on the far side of the Moon on 3 J ...
'' rover.
Phase III: Sample-return
The third phase included a lunar
sample-return mission
A sample-return mission is a spacecraft mission to collect and return samples from an extraterrestrial location to Earth for analysis. Sample-return missions may bring back merely atoms and molecules or a deposit of complex compounds such as lo ...
.
*
Chang'e 5-T1
Chang'e 5-T1 () was an experimental robotic spacecraft that was launched to the Moon on 23 October 2014 by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) to conduct atmospheric re-entry tests on the capsule design planned to be used in the Cha ...
was launched on 23 October 2014. It was designed to test the lunar return spacecraft.
*
Chang'e 5
Chang'e 5 () was the fifth lunar exploration mission of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, and China's first lunar sample-return mission. Like its predecessors, the spacecraft is named after the Chinese moon goddess Chang'e. It launched ...
was launched on 23 November 2020, landed near
Mons Rümker
Mons Rümker is an isolated volcanic formation that is located in the northwest part of the Moon's near side, at selenographic coordinates 40.8° N, 58.1° W. The feature forms a large, elevated mound in the northern part of the Oceanus Procellaru ...
on the moon on 1 December 2020, and returned to earth with 2 kilograms of lunar soil on 16 December 2020.
Final Phase: Lunar robotic research station
After the "3 steps" phase is done, the phase for the development of an autonomous
lunar research station near the Moon's south pole will commence.
[China's Planning for Deep Space Exploration and Lunar Exploration before 2030](_blank)
(PDF) XU Lin, ZOU Yongliao, JIA Yingzhuo. ''Space Sci''., 2018, 38(5): 591-592.
*
Chang'e 6
Chang'e 6 () is a planned robotic Chinese lunar exploration mission that is expected to launch in 2025 and perform China's second sample return mission. Like its predecessors, the spacecraft is named after the Chinese moon goddess Chang'e.
Ov ...
, expected to launch in 2025,
will investigate the topography, composition and subsurface structure of the
South Pole–Aitken basin
The South Pole–Aitken basin (SPA Basin, ) is an immense impact crater on the far side of the Moon. At roughly in diameter and between deep, it is one of the largest known impact craters in the Solar System. It is the largest, oldest, and dee ...
. The mission will
return samples to Earth.
[Chang'e 7
Chang'e 7 () is a planned robotic China, Chinese lunar exploration mission expected to be launched in 2026 to target the lunar south pole. Like its predecessors, the spacecraft is named after the Chinese moon goddess Chang'e. The mission will inc ...]
is a mission that will explore the south pole for resources. The mission will include an orbiter, a relay satellite, a lander, a mini-flying probe, and the
.
, expected to launch in 2028, will verify in-situ resource development and utilization technologies.
It will also transport a small sealed ecosystem experiment.
It will test technology necessary to the construction of a lunar science base.
, China was reviewing preliminary studies for a crewed lunar landing mission in the 2030s,