Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Beijing — China has opened up a lunar mission to international co-operation as mission deadlines loom for setting up a permanent habitat on the south pole of the moon.
China welcomes countries and international organisations on its uncrewed Chang’e-8 mission and to jointly carry out “mission-level” projects, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said at the 74th International Astronautical Congress in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Monday.
Mission-level projects mean China and its international partners could launch and operate their spacecraft, conduct spacecraft-to-spacecraft “interactions”, and jointly explore the surface of the moon, according to details announced on CNSA’s website.
International partners are also welcome to “piggyback” on the mission and independently deploy their own modules once the Chinese spacecraft lands, CNSA said.
The mission will follow the Chang’e-7 in 2026, which also aims to search for lunar resources on the moon’s south pole. The two missions will lay the foundations for the construction of the Beijing-led international lunar research station in the 2030s.
China, which deployed an uncrewed probe to the moon on the Chang’e-5 mission in 2020, plans to send an uncrewed Chang’e-6 probe to the far side of the moon in the first half of 2024 to retrieve soil samples. It aims to land astronauts on the moon by 2030.
China’s timeline to build an outpost on the south pole coincides with Nasa’s Artemis programme, which aims to put US astronauts back on the lunar surface in December 2025. On the 2025 Artemis 3 mission, two US astronauts will land on the lunar south pole, a region previously unvisited by any human. The last time a human set foot on the moon was in 1972 under the US Apollo programme.
The crewed Artemis 4 and 5 missions are planned for 2027 and 2029, respectively.
Nasa is banned by US law from collaborating with China, directly or indirectly.
Twenty-nine countries, including India, which landed a probe near the moon’s south pole in August, have signed the Artemis Accords, a pact crafted by Nasa and the US state department aimed at establishing norms of behaviour in space and on the lunar surface. China and Russia are not signatories of the agreement.
China, for its own lunar station programme, has secured participation from only Russia and Venezuela so far.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
China offers to collaborate on lunar mission
Beijing — China has opened up a lunar mission to international co-operation as mission deadlines loom for setting up a permanent habitat on the south pole of the moon.
China welcomes countries and international organisations on its uncrewed Chang’e-8 mission and to jointly carry out “mission-level” projects, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said at the 74th International Astronautical Congress in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Monday.
Mission-level projects mean China and its international partners could launch and operate their spacecraft, conduct spacecraft-to-spacecraft “interactions”, and jointly explore the surface of the moon, according to details announced on CNSA’s website.
International partners are also welcome to “piggyback” on the mission and independently deploy their own modules once the Chinese spacecraft lands, CNSA said.
The mission will follow the Chang’e-7 in 2026, which also aims to search for lunar resources on the moon’s south pole. The two missions will lay the foundations for the construction of the Beijing-led international lunar research station in the 2030s.
China, which deployed an uncrewed probe to the moon on the Chang’e-5 mission in 2020, plans to send an uncrewed Chang’e-6 probe to the far side of the moon in the first half of 2024 to retrieve soil samples. It aims to land astronauts on the moon by 2030.
China’s timeline to build an outpost on the south pole coincides with Nasa’s Artemis programme, which aims to put US astronauts back on the lunar surface in December 2025. On the 2025 Artemis 3 mission, two US astronauts will land on the lunar south pole, a region previously unvisited by any human. The last time a human set foot on the moon was in 1972 under the US Apollo programme.
The crewed Artemis 4 and 5 missions are planned for 2027 and 2029, respectively.
Nasa is banned by US law from collaborating with China, directly or indirectly.
Twenty-nine countries, including India, which landed a probe near the moon’s south pole in August, have signed the Artemis Accords, a pact crafted by Nasa and the US state department aimed at establishing norms of behaviour in space and on the lunar surface. China and Russia are not signatories of the agreement.
China, for its own lunar station programme, has secured participation from only Russia and Venezuela so far.
Reuters
Mission accomplished: India puts moon rover to ‘sleep’
India makes history with landing on moon’s south pole
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most Read
Related Articles
Japan launches ‘moon sniper’ lunar lander
Russia’s crash into the moon leaves 10m crater
Published by Arena Holdings and distributed with the Financial Mail on the last Thursday of every month except December and January.