Chinese Lunar Exploration Program

The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP; Chinese: 中国探月工程; pinyin: Zhōngguó Tànyuè Gōngchéng), also known as the Chang'e Project (Chinese: 嫦娥工程; pinyin: Cháng'é Gōngchéng) after the Chinese Moon goddess Chang'e, is the first and ongoing series of robotic Moon missions by the China National Space Administration (CNSA), part of the Chinese space program. Chang'e 1 (2007) and Chang'e 2 (2010) orbited the Moon, surveying potential landing sites. Chang'e 3 (2013) deployed China's first lander and rover, Yutu. Chang'e 4 (2019) made the world's first landing on the far side of the Moon; its Yutu-2 became the longest-lived lunar rover. Chang'e 5 (2020) provided the world's first lunar sample return since Luna 24 in 1974, also conducting the first robotic lunar orbit docking. Chang'e 6 (2024) retrieved the first ever lunar far side samples. Support missions include Queqiao-1 (2018) and Queqiao-2 (2024), communications satellites in halo and frozen orbits respectively, for coverage of the far side and lunar south pole. Chang'e 5-T1 (2014) tested the reentry capsule and docking technology needed for sample returns. Larger payloads from Chang'e 5 onwards use the heavy lift Long March 5 rocket; the Chang'e 3 and 4 landers used the Long March 3B. China plans Chang'e 7 (late 2026) and Chang'e 8 (2028), which will explore the lunar south pole for ice, using multi-landing flying probes; the latter will test in situ resource utilization. China plans a crewed lunar landing in 2029 or 2030, using the Mengzhou orbiter and Lanyue lander, each launched by a super heavy-lift Long March 10 rocket. China aims to construct the International Lunar Research Station at the lunar south pole from 2031, collaborating with Roscosmos and 11 other countries. The Long March 9 super heavy-lifter is planned for this construction. The program previously saw collaboration with the European Space Agency on...