Engineering Program
The program encompasses lunar orbiters, landers, rovers and sample return spacecraft, launched using the Long March series of rockets. A human lunar landing component may have been added to the program, after China publicly announced crewed lunar landing plans by the year 2030 during a conference in July 2023. The program's launches and flights are monitored by a telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C) system, which uses radio antennas inProgram structure
Ouyang Ziyuan, a geologist and chemical cosmologist, is the program's chief scientist. Ye Peijian serves as the program's chief commander and chief designer. Sun Jiadong, anPhase I (robotic): Orbital missions
The first phase entailed the launch of twoPhase II (robotic): Soft landers/rovers
The second phase is ongoing, and incorporates spacecraft capable of soft-landing on the Moon and deployingPhase III (robotic): Sample-return
The third phase included a lunar sample-return mission. * Chang'e 5-T1 was launched on 23 October 2014. It was designed to test the lunar return spacecraft. * Chang'e 5 was launched on 23 November 2020, landed near Mons Rümker on the Moon on 1 December 2020, and returned to Earth with of lunar samples back to Earth.Phase IV (robotic): Lunar robotic research station
Phase IV is the development of an autonomous lunar research station near the Moon's south pole.China's Planning for Deep Space Exploration and Lunar Exploration before 2030Crewed mission phase
In 2019, China was reviewing preliminary studies for a crewed lunar landing mission in the 2030s, and possibly building an outpost near the lunar south pole with international cooperation. On 12 July 2023, at the 9th China (International) Commercial Aerospace Forum in2035 and thereafter: International Moon base and application
In 2021, China and Russia announced they will be building a Moon base together, also formally invited more countries and international organizations to join their International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) project being developed by the two nations, as an alternative to the AmericanList of missions
Conducted missions
Upcoming missions
Key technologies
Long-range TT&C
The biggest challenge in Phase I of the program was the operation of the TT&C system, because its transmission capability needed sufficient range to communicate with the probes in lunar orbit. China's standard satellite telemetry had a range of , but the distance between the Moon and the Earth can exceed when the Moon is at apogee. In addition, the Chang'e probes had to carry out many attitude maneuvers during their flights to the Moon and during operations in lunar orbit. The distance across China from east to west is , forming another challenge to TT&C continuity. At present, the combination of the TT&C system and the Chinese astronomical observation network has met the needs of the Chang'e program, but only by a small margin.Environmental adaptability
The complexity of theOrbit design and flight sequence control
Given the conditions of the three-body system of the Earth, Moon and aAttitude control
Lunar orbiters have to remain properly oriented with respect to the Earth, Moon and Sun. All onboard detectors must be kept facing the lunar surface in order to complete their scientific missions, communication antennas have to face the Earth in order to receive commands and transfer scientific data, andHazard avoidance
During the second phase of the program, in which the spacecraft were required to soft-land on the lunar surface, it was necessary to devise a system of automatic hazard avoidance in order that the landers would not attempt to touch down on unsuitable terrain. Chang'e 3 utilized aInternational cooperation
Chang’e 1: The first Chinese lunar orbiter, launched in 2007. It carried a European Space Agency (ESA) instrument called D-CIXS, which measured the elemental composition of the lunar surface. It also received tracking and data relay support from ESA’s ground stations in Australia and Spain. Chang’e 2: The second Chinese lunar orbiter, launched in 2010. It carried a laser altimeter provided by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), which mapped the lunar topography with high precision. It also used ESA’s deep space network for communication and navigation during its extended mission to the asteroid 4179 Toutatis. Chang’e 3: The first Chinese lunar lander and rover, launched in 2013. It carried a lunar ultraviolet telescope (LUT) developed by the National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) and the International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA), which performed the first astronomical observations from the lunar surface. It also received data relay support from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) for the landing of the Chang’e 3 probe. Chang’e-4: The first mission to land and explore the far side of the Moon, with four international scientific payloads from the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, and Saudi Arabia. It also received support from NASA’s LRO team, Russia’s radioisotope heat source, China’s deep space station in Argentina, and the European Space Agency’s tracking station. Chang’e-5: The first mission to return lunar samples since 1976, with international cooperation in telemetry, tracking, and command from the European Space Agency, Argentina, Namibia, Pakistan, and other countries and organizations. It also carried a French magnetic field detector. Scientists from various countries, including Australia, Russia, France, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Sweden, have participated in scientific research involving Chinese lunar samples.Cooperation with Russia
In November 2017, China and Russia signed an agreement on cooperative lunar and deep space exploration. The agreement includes six sectors, covering lunar and deep space, joint spacecraft development, space electronics, EarthGallery
Timeline
See also
* Exploration of the Moon *References
External links