China targets manned moon landing by 2030, outlines testing tasks ahead

Beijing, Oct 30 (IANS) China is advancing its goal of landing astronauts on the moon by 2030 and has outlined a packed schedule of development and testing for its ambitious crewed lunar programme, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said on Thursday.

A series of crucial upcoming tests include integrated testing for the Lanyue lunar lander, thermal tests, and maximum dynamic pressure escape tests for the Mengzhou manned spacecraft, and low-altitude and technology verification flights for the Long March-10 carrier rocket, Xinhua news agency reported.

At a press conference held at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, CMSA spokesperson Zhang Jingbo announced that the Mengzhou-1 spacecraft mission will be included in the public logo solicitation campaign alongside missions to China's space station.

This spacecraft is primarily designed for lunar missions while also supporting the space station missions in low-Earth orbit.

All development and construction work for the crewed lunar mission is proceeding as planned, said Zhang. Primary preliminary prototyping of key flight hardware, including the Long March-10 rocket, the Mengzhou spacecraft, the Lanyue lander, the Wangyu lunar extravehicular suit, and the Tansuo crewed lunar rover, has been completed, the report said.

Also, payload designs for scientific research and applications have been finalised, and ground-based infrastructure, such as the launch site, tracking network, and landing site on Earth, is under accelerated development, according to Zhang.

The mission has seen a string of successful tests this year, including the second-stage propulsion system test and the captive firing test for the Long March-10 rocket, the zero-altitude escape test for the Mengzhou spacecraft, and the comprehensive landing and takeoff verification test for the Lanyue lander.

Zhang noted that numerous new technologies still require validation, and the upcoming workload is heavy, given the high-quality standards and a tight timeline for flight tests.

Meanwhile, the CMSA also announced the crew for the Shenzhou-21 crewed spaceflight mission -- Zhang Lu, Wu Fei, and Zhang Hongzhang.

The Shenzhou-21 crewed spaceship is scheduled to be launched at 11:44 p.m. Friday (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, Jingbo said.

The mission is the sixth manned flight mission since the space station entered the application and development phase, and the 37th flight of China's manned spaceflight programme.

The Shenzhou-21 astronauts will complete in-orbit rotation with the Shenzhou-20 crew, and stay in the space station for about six months, according to the spokesperson.

--IANS

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