What's Next for China's Lunar Exploration Plans?

Chang’e 7 and 8 are expected to work as a team, combining to make a small established lunar research outpost with all the accouterments, such as a rover, lander, orbiter, and a way to get back to orbit. Chang’e 7 itself is also expected to explore some of the caves at the Lunar South pole, where no robot, or human, has ever gone before.

There are plenty of other places that no human or robot has gone before, and China hopes to add some of them to its list of firsts. One of the longer-term goals of the country’s space exploration efforts is an asteroid return mission, similar to what Japan achieved with the Hayabusa missions.

Beyond the asteroid belt, China plans to enact a sample return mission from Mars, as well as visit the outer reaches of the solar system. Details of both still need to be fleshed out, but a sample return from Mars would tread where some ongoing missions are actively going. One to the edge of the solar system would be novel unless you consider the Voyager craft that launched almost 50 years ago.

Notably absent from the press release was a mention of the other major power in space – the US. Deteriorating relations between the two countries could be responsible for the oversight. However, many missions detailed in China’s plan, such as a lunar research base and Mars Sample Return mission, are also explicit goals of NASA.

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