Lanyue

The Lanyue (Chinese: 揽月; pinyin: lǎn yuè; lit. 'embracing the Moon'), known during early development as the China crewed lunar surface lander, is a spacecraft under development by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) for China's crewed lunar missions. Astronauts will travel to low lunar orbit aboard the Mengzhou spacecraft, where they will dock with a waiting Lanyue, launched autonomously by a separate Long March 10 rocket. Two astronauts then will transfer to the empty lander and proceed to attempt a landing on the lunar surface; the lander will return the astronauts to low lunar orbit after a period of surface operations. The first lunar landing attempt is planned for before 2030. Lanyue consists of a propulsion stage and a landing and ascent stage; unlike the Apollo Lunar Module, Lanyue will jettison its propulsion stage prior to landing.