China targets manned moon landing by 2030, outlines testing tasks ahead

JIUQUAN -- China is holding firm to its goal of landing astronauts on the moon by 2030, and has outlined a packed schedule of development and testing for its ambitious crewed lunar program.

A series of crucial upcoming tests include -- integrated testing for the Lanyue lunar lander, thermal tests and maximum dynamic pressure escape tests for the Mengzhou manned spacecraft, and low-altitude and technology verification flights for the Long March-10 carrier rocket, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said on Thursday.

CMSA spokesperson Zhang Jingbo announced at a press conference that the Mengzhou-1 spacecraft mission will be included in the public logo solicitation campaign alongside missions to China's space station. This spacecraft is primarily designed for lunar missions while also supporting the space station missions in low-Earth orbit.

All development and construction work for the crewed lunar mission is proceeding as planned, said Zhang. Primary preliminary prototyping of key flight hardware, including the Long March-10 rocket, the Mengzhou spacecraft, the Lanyue lander, the Wangyu lunar extravehicular suit and the Tansuo crewed lunar rover, has been completed.

Also, payload designs for scientific research and applications have been finalized, and ground-based infrastructure, such as the launch site, tracking network and landing site on Earth, is under accelerated development, according to Zhang.

The mission has seen a string of successful tests this year, including the second-stage propulsion system test and the captive firing test for the Long March-10 rocket, the zero-altitude escape test for the Mengzhou spacecraft, and the comprehensive landing and takeoff verification test for the Lanyue lander.

Zhang noted that numerous new technologies still require validation, and the upcoming workload is heavy, given the high-quality standards and a tight timeline for flight tests.

The project team has pledged to overcome these hurdles and lay a solid foundation for achieving the nation's lunar exploration goal on schedule.