MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th April, 2023) China is planning to launch the Chang'e 6 lunar exploration mission in May 2024 to study the Moon's surface and collect soil samples, Vice Administrator of the China National Space Administration (CNSA) Wu Yanhua said on Tuesday.
"China will launch the Chang'e 6 probe around 2024 to conduct delivery of samples from the Moon. The planned date is May 2024," Wu said, as quoted by Chinese news outlet The Paper.
The launch of the next probe, Chang'e 7, is scheduled for 2026 and Chang'e 8 is likely to be launched in 2028, the official added.
The Chinese lunar exploration program, named Chang'e after the Chinese goddess of the Moon, includes four stages: an orbital missions around the artificial satellite of the Earth, soft landing on it, sample-return missions and the creation of an autonomous lunar research station. Beijing successfully completed the third stage with the successful Chang'e-5 lunar mission launched in November 2020. Thus, China became the third country in history after the United States and the Soviet Union to successfully perform a lunar lander-return mission. With the upcoming Chang'e-6, Chang'e-7, and Chang'e-8 missions, Beijing plans to complete its current lunar program by 2030.
