China remains firm on its goal of landing astronauts on the Moon by 2030, and has outlined a tight development and testing schedule for its ambitious manned lunar exploration program.
A series of important upcoming tests include an integrated test for the Lanyue lunar lander, thermal tests and maximum dynamic pressure escape flights for the Mengzhou manned spacecraft, and low-altitude flights and technology verification for the Long March-10 carrier rocket, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said on Thursday (October 30).
Zhang Jingbo, a spokesperson for the CMSA, announced at a press conference that the Mengzhou-1 spacecraft mission will be included in the public logo collection campaign along with missions to China's space station. The spacecraft is primarily designed for missions to the Moon and supports the space station's mission in low-Earth orbit.
All development and construction work for the manned lunar mission is proceeding as planned, Zhang said. The construction of key early prototypes for key flight hardware, including the Long March-10 rocket, the Mengzhou spacecraft, the Lanyue lander, the Wangyu lunar landing spacesuit, and the Tansuo manned lunar rover, has been completed.
In addition, payload designs for scientific research and applications have been finalized, and construction of ground infrastructure, such as launch sites, tracking networks, and landing sites, is being accelerated, according to Zhang.
The mission has completed a series of successful tests this year, including the second-stage propulsion system test and captive firing test for the Long March-10 rocket, the zero-altitude evacuation flight test for the Mengzhou spacecraft, and the comprehensive landing and takeoff verification test for the Lanyue lander.
Zhang revealed that several new technologies still require validation, and the upcoming workload is substantial, given the high quality standards and tight deadlines for the test flights.
The project team is determined to overcome these obstacles and lay a solid foundation for achieving China's lunar exploration goals on schedule.
