China plans to launch three unmanned missions to the Moon in the next 10 years to rival the United States in the new era of space exploration.
China’s National Space Administration has received approval to send three orbiters to the Moon as part of the Chang’e Moon program, state-sponsored CCTV reported, Liu Jizhong, official of the China Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center. The announcement comes a day after China said it had discovered a new Moon mineral through samples taken by the Chang’e-5 mission.
Named Changesite-(Y), this mineral was described by the state-backed Xinhua news agency as a type of colorless transparent columnar crystal. This mineral is said to contain helium-3, an isotype that could be used as an energy source in the future.
In recent years, China has expanded its goals in space, sending probes to the Moon, starting its own space station and launching missions to Mars. Therefore, these plans led to direct competition with the USA in space. NASA has a rover on the Red Planet and plans to send astronauts to the Moon again this decade. Both countries are studying the Moon’s minerals for space mining, which is expected to be the next source of tension.
The two sides have engaged in verbal bickering in recent weeks after the US’s Artemis I mission was delayed, its first major push to return to the Moon in half a century. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson accused China of stealing space technology and criticized the country for its space debris.
Founded in 2004, China’s lunar exploration program launched its first spacecraft three years later. The Chang’e program is named after the Chinese Moon goddess and has recently focused on collecting samples from the Moon’s surface.
The Chang’e-7 program will target the moon’s South Pole, an area that scientists think is the best place to find water. NASA is targeting the same part of the Moon.
Government official Liu said on Saturday that China aims to build an international Moon-based research station in the future…
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