Chinese Lunar Exploration Program

China’s national effort to explore the Moon, centered on robotic Chang’e missions and plans for crewed lunar exploration. Its spacecraft have orbited, landed, roved, and returned lunar samples.

Chang’e 1: China’s first lunar probe, which orbited the Moon from 2007 to 2009 and mapped its surface. It began the program’s orbital reconnaissance phase.
China National Space Administration: China’s civilian agency responsible for national space activities and international space cooperation. It leads the program’s public civilian framework.
International Lunar Research Station: A proposed lunar research facility promoted by China and Russia for long-term robotic and human exploration. It is the program’s main framework for planned international lunar infrastructure.
Lunar sample-return mission: A space mission that collects material from the Moon and delivers it to Earth for analysis. Chang’e sample returns expanded the small collection of lunar material available for laboratory study.
Chang’e 3: A Chinese lunar mission that landed the Yutu rover on the Moon in 2013. Its lander and rover demonstrated China’s first lunar surface operations.
Chinese space program: China’s coordinated national effort in human spaceflight, satellites, launch vehicles, and deep-space exploration. The lunar effort grew within this wider space infrastructure.
Chinese crewed lunar landing: China’s planned mission to land astronauts on the Moon before 2030. It is the crewed goal that extends the robotic program’s capabilities.
Lunar far side: The hemisphere of the Moon that always faces away from Earth because the Moon rotates synchronously. Chang’e 4 and Chang’e 6 made this region accessible to surface exploration and sampling.
Chang’e 4: The first mission to achieve a soft landing on the Moon’s far side, in 2019. Its landing required relay communications because the far side faces away from Earth.
Chinese Academy of Space Technology: A major Chinese spacecraft developer responsible for designing and building many national space missions. Its engineering work supports the Chang’e spacecraft and related systems.

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Chinese Academy of SciencesRelated: Academy institutes have supplied instruments and scientific expertise for lunar missions.