Plate Nº 95 · recorded November 9, 2026
Space & AstronomyReported finding
China’s Moon Landing Plan Tests NASA’s 2028 Ambitions
China’s four-mission campaign aims for a crewed Moon landing before 2030, while NASA targets 2028 but still must prove two private lunar landers in flight.
By Priya Raman4 min read806 words
In brief
- China’s four-mission campaign targets a crewed lunar landing before 2030.
- China’s first three missions are scheduled for 2027, 2028 and 2029.
- The final Chinese mission would carry three astronauts to lunar orbit and land two on the surface for three days.
- NASA targets Artemis III for summer 2027 and Artemis IV for early 2028.
- Artemis IV could produce the first crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17 in 1972.
By Priya Raman
Two Chinese astronauts would move from a capsule in lunar orbit into a lander, walk on the Moon for three days and return to orbit before 2030 under a four-mission roadmap presented in Beijing.
China’s newly detailed campaign sets a crewed lunar landing “before 2030,” narrowing the schedule gap with NASA, which targets its own landing in early 2028. Chinese officials presented the four-mission roadmap at the 7th Manned Space Symposium, held Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 in Beijing. The deadline matches earlier statements from the China Manned Space Agency.
Public details came through media reports and CNSpaceflight, an X account that closely tracks Chinese space activity. The account cited an X user who shared a presentation slide of the plan.
CNSpaceflight wrote on Nov. 2:
“One reading is that 2029 coincides with the 80th anniversary of the current government, creating a strong internal incentive to achieve the landing that year. At the same time, the technical schedule (new Long March 10 family, Mengzhou, Lanyue, dual-launch operations) remains aggressive; committing publicly to 2029 would create significant political exposure if any major test slips.”
“Using ‘before 2030’ therefore functions as deliberate wording flexibility: a 2029 landing can still be presented as an early historic success, while a slip into 2030 remains inside the stated goal without requiring a formal target revision. You just need to put ‘year-end’ after ‘before 2030,’” CNSpaceflight added.
CNSpaceflight presented the anniversary explanation as one reading rather than a confirmed government rationale. Its technical assessment was less favorable: the new rocket family, capsule, lander and dual-launch operations make the sequence demanding.
What does China’s four-mission sequence require?
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Mission one, 2027: The first flight of a new Long March 10A rocket would send the uncrewed Mengzhou (“Dream Vessel”) capsule into low Earth orbit, or LEO, an orbit close to Earth, for a series of tests. Mengzhou serves as China’s next-generation crew capsule for lunar-orbit missions.
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Mission two, 2028: The more powerful Long March 10 would debut with the uncrewed Lanyue (“Embracing the Moon”) lander. Lanyue would enter lunar orbit, touch down on the surface, then launch itself back into orbit.
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Mission three, 2029: Two Long March 10 launches would carry Mengzhou and Lanyue separately. The spacecraft would rehearse rendezvous and docking, meaning matching course and joining in lunar orbit, before Lanyue descended for another uncrewed landing.
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Mission four, before 2030: Two more Long March 10 launches would send a crewed Mengzhou and an uncrewed Lanyue. They would dock in lunar orbit, and the astronauts would transfer into Lanyue for the landing.
Three astronauts would apparently ride Mengzhou, while two would descend in Lanyue. The lunar pair would spend three days on the surface and conduct a moonwalk on each day.
Taken together, the flights form a relay race: first prove the capsule, then the lander, then orbital rendezvous, and only then carry people to the surface.
Can NASA still land first?
NASA’s Artemis program sent astronauts around the Moon in April on Artemis II. The agency now prepares for Artemis III, a crewed flight to LEO that will test how Orion rendezvous and docks with one or both of two commercial crewed landers: SpaceX’s Starship and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon.
NASA officials place Artemis III on track for summer 2027, but an on-time liftoff remains uncertain. Starship reached Earth orbit for the first time on Sept. 28, yet still must demonstrate off-Earth refueling, which means taking on fuel beyond Earth orbit. That capability is crucial for any Starship mission beyond Earth orbit.
Blue Moon has yet to leave the ground. Its first flight, scheduled for the following spring, would send it to the lunar surface without a crew.
If Artemis III succeeds, NASA can prepare for Artemis IV, which would put astronauts near the lunar south pole aboard either Starship or Blue Moon. NASA has not selected the lander.
The agency currently targets early 2028 for Artemis IV. If that schedule holds, NASA would beat China and achieve the first crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17 in 1972.
What happens after the first landing?
Both NASA and China aim to build bases on the lunar surface over the next decade or so, potentially creating humanity’s first sustained outpost on a world beyond Earth.
NASA and U.S. military officials have stressed that the stakes extend beyond national prestige. They have argued that the first party to establish a base could claim the best sites, gain the best access to key resources such as water ice, and set norms for later missions.
Those rules remain unsettled, adding another strategic contest to the landing itself. The first landing may set a precedent, but the winning date still depends on tests that neither program has yet completed.
via space.com (Source)
More from Priya Raman
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Senior reporter covering people, launches and day-to-day practice in general science news at SciBeat.
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