China’s Chang’e-7 lunar mission is set to launch by August 24 from Wenchang, Hainan, targeting the Moon’s south polar region in a search for water ice.
The spacecraft will launch aboard a Long March 5 rocket and is expected to reach the vicinity of the Moon in about five days.
Mission planners expect roughly two months of reconnaissance before a proposed November landing near the rim of Shackleton Crater.
Chang’e-7 will deploy four spacecraft. An orbiter will survey potential landing areas, while a lander will target illuminated terrain near the crater rim. A rover will examine the surface and search for subsurface ice.
The mission also includes a six-legged hopper designed to enter permanently shadowed areas and investigate locations where extremely low temperatures could preserve deposits of water ice.
The spacecraft will carry 21 scientific instruments, including six involving international partners from Russia, Italy, Thailand, Switzerland, Bahrain and Egypt.
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The mission is targeting a direct landing at the lunar south pole. It also links the project to China’s longer-term plans to send astronauts to the Moon by 2030 and develop an International Lunar Research Station with Russia by 2035.
