Space race: the battle for the Moon

Chang’e 1 (2007)

First Chinese orbital probe to the Moon. Launched by a Long March rocket, the probe orbited the Moon for 16 months, until it crashed in 2009

Chang’e 2 (2010)

Second orbital probe. High-resolution mapping; it then traveled to Lagrange point L2 (between Earth and Sun) and flew over asteroid 4179 Toutatis (2012)

Chang’e 3 (2013)

First soft landing since 1976 and China's first lunar rover, Yutu, which holds the record for the longest operational period of a lunar rover (until 2016)

Chang’e 4 (2018-2019)

First landing on the far side of the Moon in history, with the Yutu-2 rover

Chang’e 5 (2020)

Return of lunar samples (the first since 1976), making China the third country to achieve this, after the USA and the USSR

Chang’e 6 (2024)

Return of the first samples from the far side of the Moon

Chang’e 7 (~2026)

Probe and explorer robot to the lunar south pole to search for ice water and resources

Chang’e 8 (~2028)

Tests of in situ resource utilization (ISRU) technologies at the Moon's south pole and basic elements for creating a lunar scientific research station (ILRS)

Objective

First Chinese manned landing around 2030

Artemis III (2027)

Manned mission for testing docking with the lander module (in low Earth orbit)

Artemis IV (Early 2028)

First human landing since 1972

Artemis V (Late 2028)

New manned mission to the Moon, and from here on, landings every six months

Objective

Construction of a permanent lunar base in 3 phases:• Phase 1 (2026-27): Build, test, learn• Phase 2 (2028-29): Establish initial functional infrastructure• Phase 3 (2029-30): Enable long-term human presence