China Aims to Land Humans on the Moon Before 2030
China’s space program has set its sights on landing humans on the Moon before 2030. This was confirmed by Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the China Manned Space Agency, during a press conference at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. The project involves developing a new Long March 10 crew transport rocket, a lunar landing capsule, and a lunar extravehicular suit. It also includes constructing rocket launch and test facilities.
Lin stated that initially, their program aims for “short stay on the lunar surface and joint human-robotic exploration.” He added that they have a complete near-Earth human space station, round-trip human transportation system, as well as a process for selecting, training and supporting new astronauts. He said that a schedule of two manned missions per year is enough to achieve their goals.
The Long March 10 rocket is currently under development and scheduled for a test flight in 2027 according to Wu Weiren, chief designer of the country’s lunar exploration program. In contrast, NASA’s Artemis program aims to put humans back on the moon by the end of 2025.
China has made significant strides in space exploration over recent years. Last November saw the addition of a third section to its Tiangong space station making it complete with plans to expand at an appropriate time. Additionally this week three astronauts are scheduled to be launched aboard Shenzhou 16 spacecraft travelling to replace those who have been living there for six months. This mission will include Gui Haichao – China’s first civilian astronaut.
China carried out its first manned space mission in 2003 and has since landed probes on both Mars and Moon surfaces with plans underway for asteroid landings too.
According to Silicon UK: “China aims to land humans on the Moon before 2030”. With their continued advancements within space exploration, it seems that China is well on its way to achieving this ambitious goal.
