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Issue 30

02 Flash Archive · Members Only

To the Moon: China’s Evolving Launch Capabilities

2 September 2021: China appears to be accelerating its plans to land on the Moon by 2030 and would use a modified version of an existing rocket to do so. The chief designer of the Long March family of rockets, Long Lehao, said China could use two modified Long March 5 rockets to accomplish a lunar landing in less than…

Author Greg Gillinger Published September 12, 2021

2 September 2021: China appears to be accelerating its plans to land on the Moon by 2030 and would use a modified version of an existing rocket to do so. The chief designer of the Long March family of rockets, Long Lehao, said China could use two modified Long March 5 rockets to accomplish a lunar landing in less than a decade.

– Lehao said one of these large rockets would launch a lunar lander into orbit around the Moon, and the second would send the crew to meet it. The crew would transfer to the lander and then spend 6 hours on the Moon’s surface. Part of the lunar lander would ascend back to meet the spacecraft and return to Earth.

– The plan requires several technology developments. The Long March 5 rocket, which has a similar capacity to a Delta IV Heavy rocket, would be upgraded to become the “Long March 5-DY.” China would also need a lunar lander and a next-generation spacecraft capable of deep space missions.

– Chinese authorities began discussing a similar lunar exploration architecture in October 2020.

– The Long March 9 remains in China’s space exploration roadmap. Lehao showed a slide showing the change, or likely evolution, of the Long March 9 super heavy-lift rocket to a reusable form and illustration of progress.

– In addition to supporting space exploration China is planning to use the LM-9 to construct space-based solar power facilities 35,786 kilometers above the Earth.

The use of an existing rocket with 7 launches would simplify the mission for China. The country’s aerospace engineers are in the early stages of developing a super-heavy lift rocket named Long March 9, it likely won’t be ready for test flights before 2030. By modifying an existing rocket, China could get to the Moon faster.

To the Moon: China's Evolving Launch Capabilities

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