WORLDTECHChina Sets Out Two-Launch Plan to Land Taikonauts on Moon by 2030
China has begun setting out how it intends to land taikonauts on the Moon by 2030, using a two-launch lunar orbit rendezvous approach. The details, according to a slide reported by CNSpaceflight, were laid out by the chief designer of the country's lunar exploration program.
Two launches and a rendezvous in lunar orbit
The strategy relies on launching the Mengzhou crew spacecraft and the Lanyue lunar lander separately. The two vehicles would then dock in lunar orbit before the landing.
The plan was explained at the 7th Manned Space Symposium in Beijing by Wang Xiang, chief designer of the lunar exploration program, and was reported by Chinese outlets including Xinhua and CCTV. The Long March-10 rocket, Mengzhou and Lanyue have been in development for some time, but the sequence for the landing itself is only now being described publicly.
Three uncrewed tests before the crewed landing
According to a slide from Wang's presentation, which CNSpaceflight posted on X, three uncrewed test flights will come before the 2030 landing. A Mengzhou test flight to Earth orbit is scheduled for 2027, a Lanyue lunar landing test for 2028, and a dress rehearsal of the full launch and landing sequence, with two rocket launches and a lunar landing, for 2029.
China has said since 2023 that it will put taikonauts on the Moon before 2030. The slide, as reported, does not indicate that crewed test flights are planned ahead of the landing.
A race with the United States
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has said he wants American astronauts back on the Moon before Chinese taikonauts arrive. NASA contracted SpaceX in 2021 and Blue Origin in 2023 to build the U.S. landers, and Isaacman wants both companies to put astronauts on the Moon in 2028.
The Artemis program was launched during President Trump's first term with a goal of landing in 2024, but that deadline has repeatedly slipped. Isaacman has described the space race with China as closer than it needed to be, noting that China's program is advancing rapidly.
Several countries, including China, have landed robotic craft on the Moon, but only the United States has put people there. The Apollo program did so, beginning with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's landing in the Sea of Tranquility on July 20, 1969, and continuing with crews over the following three years, ending with Apollo 17 in December 1972.
Open questions
- Will China keep to the 2027, 2028 and 2029 test schedule shown on the slide?
- Will the U.S. Artemis landing be achieved before a Chinese crewed landing?