China Advances Crewed Moon Mission With Lander and Spacecraft Plan

China is making steady progress on its crewed lunar exploration programme, with a new plan centred on two launches followed by a docking in lunar orbit. Information shared at the 7th Manned Spaceflight Academic Conference offered a clearer picture of how the mission is expected to unfold.

Wang Xiang, deputy chief designer of China's manned spaceflight programme and chief designer of the lunar exploration programme, described the approach. According to him, two rockets will put the lunar lander and the Mengzhou crewed spacecraft into separate Earth-Moon transfer orbits.

After both vehicles reach lunar orbit, they will dock. Astronauts will then transfer from the Mengzhou spacecraft to the lunar lander, which will carry them to the Moon's surface. On the surface, they are expected to carry out scientific research and other scheduled activities.

Key systems for the mission are being developed as planned. These include the Long March-10 carrier rocket, the Mengzhou spacecraft and the lunar lander.

In addition, a number of major tests have been successfully completed. They include an emergency escape test for the Mengzhou spacecraft at zero altitude, a landing and re-flight test for the lunar lander, a low-altitude performance test for the Long March-10 rocket, and a Mengzhou flight test under maximum aerodynamic pressure.

The first flights of the Long March-10 rocket, the Mengzhou spacecraft and the lunar lander will follow the established timetable.

The two-day academic gathering drew more than 800 experts and scholars in crewed spaceflight. They exchanged new research results and held discussions on advanced technologies, engineering approaches and future development requirements.