After the success of recovering the first samples from the far side of the Moon, China has significantly expanded its space ambitions, focusing on even more distant targets such as Mars, asteroids, and even the Jupiter system.
This makes the country one of the main players in space exploration for the next decade. According to plans outlined by key figures in China’s space program, the country envisions missions that include returning to the Moon, exploring near-Earth asteroids, comets, and collecting the first samples from Mars.
Additionally, a mission to the Jupiter system is scheduled in the coming years. During a session of the International Astronautical Congress 2024, held in Milan on October 15, Guan Feng, director of the Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center at CNSA, provided valuable details on the lunar samples collected by the Chang’e 6 mission.
Delivered to Earth in June, these samples were found to be clearer and less dense than those obtained by the Chang’e 5 mission in 2020, which came from the visible side of the Moon.
These differences offer fundamental insights into lunar geology, revealing unique aspects of the far side of the Moon. Although scientific research on the new samples is still in its early stages, China is already working on upcoming space missions. Li Guoping, chief engineer of CNSA, announced that the Tianwen 2 mission will be launched next year to collect samples from the near-Earth asteroid Kamo’oalewa.
After delivering these samples to Earth, the spacecraft will continue to study a main-belt comet. The next two lunar missions, Chang’e 7 and Chang’e 8, are scheduled for 2026 and 2028, respectively.
Both will attempt to land near the lunar south pole: the first will focus on searching for water ice in permanently shadowed craters, while the second will focus on experiments regarding the use of in-situ resources (ISRU) and terrestrial ecosystems.
These missions represent an important step towards the creation of an International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), planned for the 2030s, with contributions from international partners. China is already actively seeking collaborators, and over ten countries have shown interest in participating. Li Guoping also mentioned that there are about 25 kilograms of space available for international collaborations on the Tianwen 3 orbital module, with an additional five kilograms reserved on the module destined for the Martian surface. China is not stopping there.
The country is laying the groundwork to collect samples from Mars as well, with the Tianwen 3 mission, planned for 2028.
Using a two-launch architecture, the samples are expected to be delivered to Earth around 2031. By 2030, the Tianwen 4 mission will also be launched, venturing towards Jupiter.
This project envisions an exploration of the Jovian system, culminating with an orbit around the moon Callisto and potentially including a flyby of Uranus. Meanwhile, crewed missions are also in the planning stages. China aims to land its astronauts on the Moon by the end of this decade.
Simultaneously, NASA continues the development of the Artemis program, with the goal of bringing humans to the Moon.
The Artemis 3 mission is currently scheduled for 2026.
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