Mission roadmap and rocket requirements
Chinese space officials at the Seventh Manned Spaceflight Conference in Beijing announced plans to land astronauts on the Moon before 2030. Wang Xiang, the chief designer for the lunar exploration program, detailed a series of missions using lunar-orbit rendezvous. Because China lacks a rocket as powerful as the Saturn V vehicle, the country will launch the crew and the lunar lander separately to achieve its goals. This mission architecture omits missions similar to Apollo 8 or Artemis II, although the Mengzhou spacecraft may still carry astronauts to the Tiangong space station in low-Earth orbit for testing. The roadmap relies on incremental tests.
| Year | Mission Details |
|---|---|
| 2027 | Uncrewed test of Long March 10A and Mengzhou spacecraft to low-Earth orbit |
| 2028 | Uncrewed test of Long March 10 and Lanyue lunar lander with descent and ascent |
| 2029 | Concurrent launch of two Long March 10 rockets for docking in lunar orbit |
| Before 2030 | Dual launch of Long March 10 rockets with crew on Mengzhou for landing |
The mission schedule targets an uncrewed test of the Long March 10A rocket and the Mengzhou spacecraft in low-Earth orbit in early 2027. This will precede a 2028 test of the larger Long March 10 rocket and the Lanyue lunar lander. In 2029, China will launch two Long March 10 rockets concurrently so the Mengzhou and Lanyue vehicles can dock in lunar orbit.
Progress against US timelines
The Chinese space program shows credible progress toward these objectives. In August 2025, the China Manned Space Agency tested a 26-ton Lanyue lunar lander mock-up using giant tethers to simulate lunar gravity during engine tests near Beijing. The testing involved firing its main engines and fine-control thrusters to land on a cratered surface and take off. The Mengzhou spacecraft for the 2027 test recently arrived at the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Hainan. While these steps show momentum, the plan remains limited because China lacks a single heavy-lift rocket capable of carrying both the crew and the lander in one flight.
NASA aims to land humans on the Moon by 2028, which is one year ahead of the Chinese timeline. The US has more established rockets and crew vehicles, having worked on the Space Launch System for 15 years. Jared Isaacman moved to cancel the Lunar Gateway space station and planned upgrades to the Space Launch System rocket to streamline the Artemis Program, as he also announced plans to help Blue Origin develop a lunar lander. Isaacman stated, "We have the mandate, we have the resources, and the support from our stakeholders to be able to execute, and that’s what we intend to do." US lunar landing goals could delay to 2030 or later if SpaceX or Blue Origin face development issues with their multibillion-dollar contracts.
