A test to make building blocks from poppy sand is done in 2028 by a robot. Around 2030 countries for the first time Chinese astronauts on the moon and make a start with an international investigation station. The big question is whether the Americans will be (again) on the moon earlier.
Trump has a great deal of the Artemis program, the successor of Apollo, by limiting it to only three missions. A successful unmanned test flight behind the moon was carried out in 2022. The second Artemis flight is delayed and is now planned for the first half of 2026: a flight with 4 astronauts according to the same course. Artemis-3 has to yield a manned lunar landing in 2028. But there is increasing doubt.
All missions successful so far
The Chinese moon program, named after the fairy tale princess Chang’e, stands like a house. All preparatory (unmanned) missions have been completely successful so far.
The first Chang’e arrived in 2007 around the moon. Chang’e 2, equipped with better cameras, took pictures of possible landing places in 2010 around the moon.
In 2013, Chang’e 3 landed and delivered a lunar car that explored the site. In 2019, Chang’e 4 brought a moon car on the back of the moon, a historic scoop.
Chang’e 5 drilled 1.7 kilos of moon soil on this side of the moon in 2020 and delivered it to earth. Chang’e 6 brought us for the first time in 2024 from the back of the moon.
Two more unmanned flights are now in the pipeline: Chang’e 7 will look for water ice in the South Pole area in 2026. This land also delivers a moon robber.
The last now planned moon explorer in this series is Chang’e 8. It lands in 2028 and is the starting signal for a research base as we know it in Antarctica.
Building blocks are made from moon soil
As part of this program, China works together with Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Iran, Italy, Peru, Russia, Thailand, Turkey and Venezuela. During this flight a test is done with making stones from moon soil: it is not the intention to supply building material for the moon base from the earth!
At the moment the vehicles are approaching their completion for the Chinese manned lunar landing: the mother ship Mengzhou (Dream ship) and the lunar lander Lanyue (Moon hug). They have to put two people on the moon in 2029-2030. I suspect it will be a man and a woman. The first woman on the moon! Little chance that the swumbling Americans still win that scoop.