Chang'e 7 Lunar South Pole Launch

What this countdown tracks

The launch of China's Chang'e 7 lunar south pole mission, currently targeted for the second half of 2026 from the Wenchang Space Launch Site on Hainan Island atop a Long March 5 heavy-lift rocket. Chang'e 7 is the China National Space Administration's most ambitious robotic lunar mission to date — a five-element architecture comprising an orbiter, a relay satellite, a lander, a rover and a small "hopper" mini-flyer designed to bound into the permanently shadowed Shackleton Crater interior in search of water ice.

About this mission

Chang'e 7 is the seventh mission of the China National Space Administration's Lunar Exploration Program named for Chang'e, the goddess of the Moon in Chinese mythology. It builds directly on Chang'e 6, which on 25 June 2024 successfully returned 1.9 kilograms of lunar far-side samples from the South Pole-Aitken basin — the first samples ever returned from the Moon's far side. Chang'e 7 is the precursor to Chang'e 8 (around 2028) which will pre-position 3D-printed building elements and resource-utilisation hardware for the planned International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) — the China-Russia-led lunar base envisioned for the 2030s in cooperation with Pakistan, Egypt, South Africa, Belarus, Senegal, Venezuela and Thailand.

The mission's primary scientific objective is the in-situ detection and characterisation of water ice in the permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) at the lunar south pole, particularly the rim and interior of Shackleton Crater. The orbiter will image the south pole at sub-metre resolution and carry a magnetometer and a neutron and gamma-ray spectrometer for water-ice mapping. The relay satellite — a Queqiao-2 successor — provides Earth communications for instruments operating in the lunar south-pole shadow zones. The lander will conduct surface mineralogy, seismometry, internal-heat-flow and thermal imaging. The rover, drawing on the heritage of Yutu-2 from Chang'e 4, will explore the rim of an as-yet-undisclosed PSR. The mini-flyer hopper is the headline payload — a small autonomous lander that detaches from the main lander, bounds into the permanently shadowed crater interior under thruster propulsion, and conducts in-situ chemical analysis of the regolith to confirm water-ice presence and concentration.

Mission objectives

The mission carries instruments contributed by the European Space Agency, the United Arab Emirates' Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Egypt, Russia, Italy, Thailand and Pakistan — making Chang'e 7 the most internationally collaborative Chinese lunar mission to date. Watch for the success of the lunar-south-pole landing and rover deployment; the in-flight performance of the mini-flyer hopper; the data return on water-ice detection in shadowed-crater regolith; the duration of operations into the lunar night using radioisotope heat units; and the resulting site-selection decisions for the Chang'e 8 ILRS precursor and the planned crewed Chinese lunar landing later in the 2030s.

Past missions

• Chang'e 6 (May–June 2024) — first lunar far-side sample return, 1.9 kg from South Pole-Aitken basin.
• Chang'e 5 (November–December 2020) — first Chinese lunar sample return, 1.7 kg from Mons Rümker.
• Chang'e 4 (January 2019) — first soft landing on the lunar far side, deployed Yutu-2 rover; relay via Queqiao satellite.
• Chang'e 3 (December 2013) — first soft landing on the Moon by China; Yutu rover.
• Chang'e 2 (October 2010) — lunar orbiter; later flew to L2 and asteroid Toutatis.
• Chang'e 1 (October 2007) — first Chinese lunar orbiter.

How to follow

The China National Space Administration (cnsa.gov.cn) and the China Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP) publish official mission updates. CCTV-13 carries Chinese-language launch coverage; CGTN, Xinhua, Global Times and the South China Morning Post anchor English-language reporting. Independent space-media coverage runs through Andrew Jones at SpaceNews, Eric Berger at Ars Technica, Stephen Clark, NASASpaceflight.com, the Planetary Society, and BBC Science. The Wenchang launch is visible from public viewing areas on Hainan; spaceflight enthusiasts often track Long March 5 launches via NOTAM (notice to airmen) advisories.

Related countdowns

Pair Chang'e 7 with Artemis III launch and Chandrayaan-4 launch for the trilateral US-China-India lunar competition narrative. China's robotic and human-spaceflight cycle continues with Tianwen-3 Mars sample return in late 2028 and the Mengzhou crew-capsule debut. Robotic-mission context comes from NASA Roman Telescope launch and NASA Dragonfly launch.

FAQ

When is Chang'e 7? Targeted for the second half of 2026 from Wenchang Space Launch Site, Hainan, China. Where will Chang'e 7 land? At the lunar south pole, with the mini-flyer hopper bounding into the permanently shadowed interior of Shackleton Crater. Why does Chang'e 7 matter? It is the most ambitious Chinese robotic lunar mission to date, the precursor to the China-led International Lunar Research Station, and the first dedicated mission to detect water ice in a permanently shadowed crater. Who is involved? CNSA leads, with international instrument contributions from ESA, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Switzerland, Italy, Egypt, Thailand and Pakistan.