China has released a detailed roadmap outlining its strategy to land a crew of astronauts on the Moon before 2030. During the 7th Manned Space Symposium in Beijing, Wang Xiang, chief designer of China's lunar exploration program, presented the comprehensive plan, offering the clearest view yet of the nation's lunar ambitions. The strategy involves a series of rigorous test flights, uncrewed rehearsals, and lunar orbit rendezvous missions designed to clear the path for a crewed landing.
The sequence begins with testing the Long March 10A rocket in Earth orbit. Scheduled for early 2027, this single-stick variant will launch the Mengzhou spacecraft to the Tiangong space station to gather performance data. By 2028, China plans an uncrewed test flight of the larger three-stage Long March 10 rocket alongside the Lanyue lunar lander, which will attempt an autonomous lunar landing and liftoff. A full-scale rehearsal is planned for 2029, where the Mengzhou and Lanyue will launch on separate rockets and dock in lunar orbit—a strategy mirroring the orbital rendezvous approach utilized during the Apollo program.
Following a successful orbital rehearsal, China aims to send three taikonauts into lunar orbit, with two descending to the surface for a three-day mission that includes daily extravehicular activities. This aggressive timeline pits China directly against the United States in a renewed lunar race. While NASA targets a crewed landing with Artemis 4, questions remain surrounding the readiness of commercial landers from providers like SpaceX and Blue Origin, leaving both space programs with significant technical milestones ahead.
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