Beijing: China has launched a lunar probe on Friday to collect samples from the far side of the Moon to provide better insights into geological and other differences between that region and the better-known near side, as Beijing's space race with the United States heats up. The Chang'e-6 probe is China's most complex robotic lunar mission to date and is a key milestone in Beijing's push to become a dominant space power.
The 53-day mission is unprecedented and would be the latest advance in the increasingly sophisticated and ambitious space exploration programme by China, which already landed a rover on the Moon's far side, becoming the first country to do so. The Moon's mysterious far side is ideal for radio astronomy and other scientific work, but requires a relay satellite to maintain communications.
The lunar mission is a major step forward for China's ambitious space programme, with plans to land astronauts on the moon by 2030 and build a research base on its south pole, CNN reported. Any far-side samples retrieved by the Chang’e-6 lander could help scientists discover the evolution of the Moon and the solar system, along with data to advance China's lunar ambitions.
“The Chang’e-6 aims to achieve breakthroughs in the design and control technology of the moon’s retrograde orbit, intelligent sampling, take-off and ascent technologies, and automatic sample return on the far side of the moon,” Ge Ping, deputy director of the China National Space Administration’s Center of Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering said last week.
Intense competition between China and US
The probe is being carried on a Long March-5 YB rocket set for liftoff on Friday evening from the Wenchang launch centre on the southern tropical island province of Hainan, the China National Space Administration announced. The launch window is 5-6 pm (local time) with the target of 5:27 pm. China also plans to launch three lunar probe missions over the next four years.
The expected launch of the probe comes as a growing number of countries, including the United States, are eying the strategic and scientific benefits of expanded lunar exploration in an increasingly competitive field. China has made rapid space advancements in recent years, in a field traditionally led by the United States and Russia.
China built its own space station after being excluded from the International Space Station, largely because of US concerns over the Chinese military's total control of the space program amid a sharpening competition in technology between the two geopolitical rivals. Three Chinese astronauts returned home last week from a six-month mission in the Chinese space station.
US law bars almost all cooperation between the US and Chinese space programmes without explicit congressional approval. As China's next lunar mission scheduled for 2027 approaches, the US has also made efforts to put a crew back on the lunar surface by the end of 2025 as part of a renewed commitment to crewed missions, aided by private sector players such as SpaceX and Blue Origin. The US space programme is believed to still hold a significant edge over China's due to its spending, supply chains and capabilities.
China's space achievements
China in 2020 returned samples from the moon's near side, the first time anyone has done so since the US Apollo programme that ended in the 1970s. Analysis of the samples found they contained water in tiny beads embedded in lunar dirt. The Chang'e-6 probe, named after the mythical Chinese goddess will be a key test for the country's space capabilities.
China's long-term plans call for a permanent crewed base on the lunar surface, although those appear to remain in the conceptual phase. China conducted its first crewed space mission in 2003, becoming the third country after the former Soviet Union and the US to put a person into space using its own resources. In 2013, China became the first country to achieve a robotic lunar landing in nearly four decades.
Chang’e-6 relies on the Queqiao-2 satellite, launched into lunar orbit in March, to maintain communications. The probe is composed of four parts - an orbiter, a lander, an ascender and a reentry module. It will be tasked to gather moon dust and rocks after touching down in the 2,500 km-long South Pole-Aitken basin, a crater formed some 4 billion years ago.
Other countries are also advancing their space ambitions. India landed its first spacecraft on the Moon's south pole in August 2023, becoming the first country to achieve a soft landing in that region. Japan's Moon Sniper lander also landed on the moon in January, although it faced power issues due to an incorrect landing angle. The US landed the IM-1 spacecraft in February, as part of a NASA-funded mission by private security firm Intuitive Machines, close to the south pole.
NASA administrator Bill Nelson last month appeared to acknowledge that China’s pace – and concerns about its intentions – were driving the American urgency to return to the moon, decades after its Apollo-crewed missions. "I think in effect we are in a race," he told lawmakers, adding that China may bar the US or other countries from certain lunar areas if they arrive first.
(with inputs from AP)
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