Chang'e 7 () is a planned robotic Chinese lunar exploration mission expected to be launched in 2026 to target the

lunar south pole The lunar south pole is the southernmost point on the Moon. It is of interest to scientists because of the lunar water, occurrence of water ice in Crater of eternal darkness, permanently shadowed areas around it. The lunar south pole region fea ...

. Like its predecessors, the spacecraft is named after the Chinese moon goddess

Chang'e Chang'e ( ; ), originally known as Heng'e (), is the goddess of the Moon and wife of Hou Yi, the great archer. Renowned for her beauty, Chang'e is also known for her ascending to the Moon with her pet Yu Tu, the Moon Rabbit and living in the Mo ...

. The mission will include an orbiter, a lander, a mini-hopping probe, and a rover.

Overview

The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program is designed to be conducted in fourChang'e 4 press conference
CNSA, broadcast on 14 January 2019. phases of incremental technological advancement: The first is simply reaching lunar orbit, a task completed by Chang'e 1 in 2007 and

Chang'e 2 Chang'e 2 (; ) is a Chinese uncrewed 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, ...

in 2010. The second is landing and roving on the Moon, as Chang'e 3 did in 2013 and

Chang'e 4 Chang'e 4 (; ) is a robotic spacecraft mission in the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program of the CNSA. It made a soft landing on the far side of the Moon, the first spacecraft to do so, on 3 January 2019. A communication relay satellite, , w ...

did in 2019 (The rover still being active as of 2024). The third is collecting lunar samples from the near-side and far-side of the

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

and sending them to

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

, a task accomplished by Chang'e 5 in 2020 and by

Chang'e 6 Chang'e 6 () was the sixth robotic lunar exploration mission by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and the second CNSA lunar sample-return mission. Like its predecessors in the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, the spacecraft is ...

mission in 2024. The fourth phase consists of development of a robotic research station near the Moon's south pole.China's Planning for Deep Space Exploration and Lunar Exploration before 2030
(PDF) XU Lin, ZOU Yongliao, JIA Yingzhuo. ''Space Sci''., 2018, 38(5): 591-592. The program aims to facilitate a crewed lunar landing in the 2030s and possibly build an outpost near the lunar south pole. The ''Chang'e-7'' mission features a novel lunar scout that will aid the rover to look for water at the south pole of the moon. The scout, propelled by rocket propulsion, will explore regions that no rovers can. The robot will be powered by

solar energy Solar energy is the radiant energy from the Sun's sunlight, light and heat, which can be harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating) and solar architecture. It is a ...

and will be equipped with cameras and a scientific instrument to analyze the lunar environment. Chang'e-7 mission will try to land on the illuminated rim of Shackleton crater near the lunar south pole.

Scientific objectives

The official scientific objectives of Chang'e 7 mission are: * Investigation and study of lunar surface environment and water ice in its soil. * High-precision investigation and study of morphology, composition and structure of the Moon. * Investigation and study of interior structure, magnetic field and thermal characteristics of the Moon. * General investigation and study of surface environment of the south pole of the Moon. * Moon-based observation and study of the Earth's magnetotail and plasmasphere.

Scientific payloads

Chang'e-7 will carry a total of 21 scientific payloads, including 6 international payloads, aiming to conduct detailed exploration of the environment and resources in the south polar region of the moon. Mission objectives include fixed-point landings. In situ observations of the permanently shadowed

crater A crater is a landform consisting of a hole or depression (geology), depression on a planetary surface, usually caused either by an object hitting the surface, or by geological activity on the planet. A crater has classically been described ...

will be made by the mini-hopping probe, which will carry water molecule and hydrogen isotope analyzers. Lunar orbiter *High Resolution Stereo Mapping Camera **At an

altitude Altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum (geodesy), datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context (e.g., aviation, geometr ...

of 100 km, the resolution of the lunar surface is better than 0.5 m, and the imaging width is greater than 18 km **At an altitude of 15 km, the resolution of the lunar surface is better than 0.075 m, and the imaging width is greater than 0.9 km *Miniature Synthetic Aperture

Radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

**Imaging resolution better than 0.3 m *Wide Band Infrared Spectrum Mineral Imaging Analyzer *Lunar

Neutron The neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol or , that has no electric charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton. The Discovery of the neutron, neutron was discovered by James Chadwick in 1932, leading to the discovery of nucle ...

Gamma Gamma (; uppercase , lowercase ; ) is the third letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 3. In Ancient Greek, the letter gamma represented a voiced velar stop . In Modern Greek, this letter normally repr ...

Spectrometer A spectrometer () is a scientific instrument used to separate and measure Spectrum, spectral components of a physical phenomenon. Spectrometer is a broad term often used to describe instruments that measure a continuous variable of a phenomeno ...

*Lunar Orbit

Magnetometer A magnetometer is a device that measures magnetic field or magnetic dipole moment. Different types of magnetometers measure the direction, strength, or relative change of a magnetic field at a particular location. A compass is one such device, ...

*Lunar Surface Material Hyperspectral Imager (jointly developed by the Egyptian Space Agency and the Bahrain National Space Science Agency) *Moon-based Dual-channel Earth Radiation Spectrometer (developed by the Physical Meteorological Observatory in Davos, Switzerland) *Space Weather Global Monitoring Sensor Device (Developed by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation of Thailand and the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand) Lunar lander *Landing Camera *Topography Camera *Lunar Surface Environment Detection System **

Electric field An electric field (sometimes called E-field) is a field (physics), physical field that surrounds electrically charged particles such as electrons. In classical electromagnetism, the electric field of a single charge (or group of charges) descri ...

probe **Low-energy ion probe **Low-energy

electron The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary charge, elementary electric charge. It is a fundamental particle that comprises the ordinary matter that makes up the universe, along with up qua ...

probe **Intermediate/high energy particle probe **

Dust Dust is made of particle size, fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian processes, aeolian process), Types of volcan ...

probe *Lunar Seismograph *Laser Corner Reflector Array (developed by the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics-Frascati National Laboratory) * Lunar Dust and

Electric Field An electric field (sometimes called E-field) is a field (physics), physical field that surrounds electrically charged particles such as electrons. In classical electromagnetism, the electric field of a single charge (or group of charges) descri ...

Probe (developed by the Russian Academy of Space Sciences) *Moon-based Astronomical Observation Telescope (developed by the International Lunar Observatory Association) Lunar rover *Panoramic Camera *Rover

*Lunar Penetrating Radar *Lunar Raman

*In-situ Measuring System of Volatiles and Isotopes on Lunar Surface Mini-hopping probe *Water Molecule and Hydrogen Isotope Analyzer

Launch

The probe is planned to be launched by a

Long March 5 Long March 5 (LM-5; zh, s=长征五号 , p=Chángzhēng wǔ hào) or Changzheng 5 (CZ-5), also known by its nickname "''Pang-Wu''" (胖五, "''Fat-Five''"), is a Chinese heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicl ...

rocket in 2026, from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chang'e 7 Chinese Lunar Exploration Program Missions to the Moon Chinese space probes 2026 in China 2026 in spaceflight