China plans 2-astronaut lunar landing before 2030

China plans to send a three-person crew on its first crewed lunar landing mission, with two astronauts descending to the surface, a senior space official said in Beijing on Saturday, as the country pursues its goal of landing Chinese astronauts on the moon before 2030.

Wang Xiang, deputy chief designer of China's manned space program and chief designer of its lunar exploration program, outlined the plan at the seventh Manned Space Symposium on October 31, according to a Global Times report.

The mission would use two Long March 10 rockets. One would send the lunar lander toward the moon first; the other would launch the crewed spacecraft. The two vehicles would rendezvous and dock in lunar orbit before the landing astronauts transfer to the lander and descend to the surface.

After completing their scientific work, the astronauts would lift off from the moon and dock again with the orbiting spacecraft, which would carry the crew back to Earth.

The timetable remains a target. China's manned space authorities had already set out the goal of a first Chinese lunar landing before 2030 in an official update in February. Saturday's reporting detailed the planned crew arrangement and flight sequence.

Preparations include an uncrewed flight of the Lanyue lunar lander ahead of the crewed landing. In an October 22 announcement, the China Manned Space Agency invited domestic organizations to propose powered experimental payloads for that flight. Applications close on March 1, 2027.

The program is also developing the Mengzhou crewed spacecraft and Long March 10 rocket. An official February update said major tests had included a lander landing-and-takeoff test and a spacecraft escape test under maximum aerodynamic pressure.

The two-day Beijing symposium brought together more than 800 experts and scholars, with lunar exploration among its main subjects, the agency said.