As U.S. delays lunar mission, China says it will launch its own in first half of 2024
BEIJING — China’s space agency said Wednesday that its latest lunar explorer had arrived at the launch site in preparation for a mission to the moon in the first half of this year.
The announcement came a day after NASA announced that it was delaying a plan to send four astronauts into orbit around the moon, pushing back the mission from late this year to September 2025 because of safety and technical issues. That came as a U.S. company abandoned a lunar landing planned for Feb. 23 because of a fuel leak that started soon after takeoff Monday.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV posted photos on its website of the wrapped-up Chinese lunar explorer as it was unloaded from a large cargo airplane earlier this week and then transported by flatbed truck to the Wenchang launch site on southern China’s Hainan island.
China and the U.S. are both pursuing plans to land astronauts on the moon in what has become a growing rivalry in space. The U.S. plans to do so in 2026, and China’s target date is before 2030.
With more lunar missions than ever on the horizon, including one by NASA in 2024, the European Space Agency wants the moon to have its own time zone.
The China National Space Administration said that pre-launch tests would be carried out on its Chang’e-6 probe. The mission’s goals include bringing back samples from the far side of the moon.
Another U.S. moon lander from a Houston company is due to launch next month.
Four countries — the U.S., Russia, China and India — have landed spacecraft on the moon. Only the United States has previously put astronauts on the moon.
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