China's upcoming lunar mission to target moon's south pole

JIUQUAN, May 23 (Xinhua) -- China's Chang'e-7 lunar exploration mission, scheduled for launch in the second half of 2026, will conduct environmental and resource surveys of the moon's south pole, and carry out international cooperation, the China Manned Space Agency said on Saturday.

The Chang'e-7 mission will employ a comprehensive exploration approach encompassing orbiting, landing, roving and hopping, Zhang Jingbo, the agency's spokesperson, said at a press conference held ahead of the launch of the Shenzhou-23 crewed mission, scheduled for Sunday night from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.

In April this year, the Chang'e-7 lunar probe was delivered to the launch site in the southern island province of Hainan, where it is undergoing pre-launch preparations.

All related work is progressing steadily as planned, Zhang said.

Besides the unmanned moon mission, China is targeting a crewed lunar landing by 2030.

According to Zhang, the country has integrated its existing crewed lunar landing and unmanned lunar exploration efforts into a unified moon exploration project.

Earlier this year, China successfully conducted a low-altitude demonstration and validation test for the Long March-10 rocket system, along with a maximum dynamic pressure abort flight test for the crewed spacecraft system Mengzhou (Dream Vessel).

These tests have laid a solid foundation for the development of a future reusable crewed space-Earth transportation system and for crewed lunar landing, Zhang added.

China will continue to organize and complete key missions as planned, including a technical verification flight of the Long March-10, as well as the maiden flights of Mengzhou and the lunar lander Lanyue (Embracing The Moon), the spokesperson said.