Chang’e Missions

China’s Chang’e programme represents a series of robotic lunar exploration missions conducted by the China National Space Administration (CNSA). Named after Chang’e, the Chinese moon goddess, this ambitious project has marked China’s emergence as a major player in space exploration. The missions aim to explore, land, and return samples from the Moon, and are structured as a phased approach to achieve comprehensive lunar research and technological mastery.

Background and Objectives

Initiated in the early 2000s, the Chang’e project forms part of China’s long-term lunar and deep-space exploration plan. The programme is divided into three primary phases — orbiting, landing, and returning — with an additional future phase focused on establishing a robotic lunar research station. Its objectives include mapping the Moon’s surface, studying its composition and geology, testing advanced space technologies, and paving the way for future crewed missions.
The Chinese Lunar Exploration Programme (CLEP) began officially in 2004, following approval by the State Council. Managed by CNSA and implemented by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), the missions are intended not only for scientific investigation but also for demonstrating China’s growing capability in spacecraft design, deep-space communication, and autonomous navigation.

Chang’e 1 and 2: Orbital Missions

The first phase of the programme, focusing on lunar orbiters, included Chang’e 1 and Chang’e 2.

• Chang’e 1, launched in October 2007, was China’s first lunar orbiter. It successfully entered lunar orbit and conducted high-resolution imaging of the Moon’s surface, producing a comprehensive three-dimensional map. The mission also investigated the distribution of chemical elements and studied the lunar environment. It marked China’s initial step in deep-space operations.
• Chang’e 2, launched in October 2010, served as both a follow-up and a technological testbed. It achieved higher-resolution imaging of the Moon’s surface, refined orbital control techniques, and tested deep-space tracking systems. After completing its primary mission, the spacecraft left lunar orbit and performed a flyby of the near-Earth asteroid 4179 Toutatis in December 2012, showcasing China’s growing interplanetary navigation capabilities.

Chang’e 3 and 4: Soft-Landing and Surface Exploration

The second phase emphasised soft-landing and surface operations, beginning with Chang’e 3, launched in December 2013. This mission successfully landed on the Moon, making China the third country after the Soviet Union and the United States to achieve a soft landing. The lander deployed the Yutu (Jade Rabbit) rover, which conducted scientific analyses of the lunar soil and rocks, studied the Moon’s internal structure, and captured panoramic images.
Chang’e 4, launched in December 2018, achieved a historic milestone as the first spacecraft to soft-land on the far side of the Moon. It carried the Yutu-2 rover, which continues to operate, collecting data on the lunar far side’s geology and subsurface structure. Communication between the spacecraft and Earth is facilitated through the Queqiao relay satellite, positioned at the Earth–Moon L2 Lagrange point. The mission has yielded significant findings regarding the composition of the far side, particularly materials from the Moon’s mantle.

Chang’e 5: Sample Return

The Chang’e 5 mission, launched in November 2020, marked the completion of the third phase — sample return. It successfully landed in the Mons Rümker region of the Oceanus Procellarum and collected approximately 1.73 kilograms of lunar samples. The samples returned to Earth in December 2020, making China the third nation, after the United States and the Soviet Union, to retrieve lunar material.
The mission demonstrated a range of complex technologies, including automated drilling, sample collection, lunar ascent, rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit, and high-speed Earth re-entry. Scientific studies of the returned samples have provided new insights into the Moon’s volcanic activity and thermal evolution, with rocks dated to be around two billion years old — significantly younger than those collected by Apollo and Luna missions.

Future Missions and Lunar Base Plans

Building on the success of Chang’e 5, China plans several upcoming missions to further advance lunar exploration:

• Chang’e 6 (scheduled for 2026) aims to return samples from the lunar south pole–Aitken basin, potentially the oldest and deepest impact crater on the Moon.
• Chang’e 7 will conduct detailed exploration of the south polar region, focusing on water ice detection and resource mapping.
• Chang’e 8 is expected to test technologies related to in-situ resource utilisation (ISRU), including the potential for 3D printing structures using lunar materials.

These missions collectively form the groundwork for an International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), a proposed collaborative project between China and Russia to establish a long-term robotic base near the lunar south pole in the 2030s.

Scientific Contributions and Technological Achievements

The Chang’e missions have yielded extensive scientific data on the Moon’s topography, composition, and internal structure. Among the notable contributions are:

• Precise global lunar mapping and gravity field measurements.
• Analysis of the far side’s geochemical characteristics, revealing differences from the near side.
• Discovery of basaltic materials suggesting prolonged volcanic activity.
• Demonstration of autonomous sampling, re-entry, and rendezvous technologies.

These accomplishments have positioned China at the forefront of robotic space exploration and established the technological foundation for eventual manned lunar missions.

International Cooperation and Strategic Significance

While China’s lunar programme operates largely independently, it has opened limited channels for international collaboration, including data-sharing with the European Space Agency (ESA) and joint payloads with several countries. The Chang’e 4 mission, for instance, carried scientific instruments from Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
Strategically, the programme signifies China’s intent to become a leading space power, contributing to national prestige, scientific development, and technological innovation. It also enhances China’s capabilities in deep-space communication, autonomous operations, and extraterrestrial resource exploration, all of which have implications for future interplanetary missions, including those to Mars.

Broader Implications

Beyond its scientific returns, the Chang’e programme has inspired renewed global interest in lunar exploration. It complements parallel efforts by other nations and private entities, contributing to a new era of lunar competition and cooperation. The missions also underpin China’s aspiration to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon and to explore its potential as a base for deeper space exploration.