China makes series of plans for massive space programs

China plans to carry out a series of massive space programs in the near future, according to Bian Zhigang, deputy director of the China National Space Administration.

Bian said at a news conference on Thursday afternoon in Beijing that his administration has been working on a pair of new lunar expeditions and three deep-space exploration projects.

"We are developing the Chang'e 7 and Chang'e 8 robotic probes. The Chang'e 7 will be sent to a polar region on the moon to conduct environmental and resource surveys while the Chang'e 8 will undertake a technology demonstration for in-situ resources utilization," he told reporters from home and abroad at the event hosted by the State Council Information Office.

He did not mention the schedules of the two lunar programs, but information published by the CNSA shows that the Chang'e 7 is set to be launched around 2026 while the Chang'e 8 will be around 2028.

Meanwhile, the government has approved three new deep-space exploration missions to enable scientists to advance their research on the origin and evolution of the solar system, the impacts of small celestial bodies and solar activities on Earth, the possibility of extraterrestrial life and other significant scientific issues, according to the official.

"The Tianwen 2 will be a robotic mission to retrieve samples from a near-Earth asteroid. It is scheduled for launch next year. The Tianwen 3, scheduled for around 2030, aims to land on Mars, collect and then bring samples back to Earth," Bian said. "The Tianwen 4 will be sent to explore Jupiter around 2030."

Currently, scientists and engineers have been working on mission plans and key technologies for the Tianwen 3 and Tianwen 4, according to him.

The Tianwen 1 mission, China's first interplanetary adventure, successfully touched down on Mars in May 2021 and deployed a rover to explore the Red Planet.

The rover, named Zhurong, is the sixth rover on Mars, following five from the United States. It traveled more than 1,900 meters and obtained a great deal of data and images before ceased operations.