China’s Ambitious Goal: Crewed Moon Landing by 2030 with 2 Rockets

China has ambitious plans to send two rockets to the moon by 2030. One rocket will carry a spacecraft that will land on the moon’s surface, while the other will transport the astronauts. This twin-rocket plan will overcome China’s technological hurdle of developing a heavy-duty rocket capable of sending both astronauts and a lander probe. State media reported on Wednesday that both rockets will enter the moon’s orbit and, after successful docking, the astronauts will enter the lunar lander to descend onto the moon’s surface.

After the astronauts have completed their scientific tasks and collected samples, the lander will transport them back to the orbiting spacecraft, which will then return to Earth. This announcement was made by Zhang Hailian, deputy chief engineer at the China Manned Space, at a summit in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

The race to send people to the moon has intensified in recent years, with both China and the United States eyeing potential mineral resources on the moon. Establishing lunar habitats could also support future crewed missions to other planets like Mars. While China is still behind the United States in experience and technology, they are actively developing the necessary infrastructure, including the super-heavy Long March 10 carrier rocket, a new-generation crewed spacecraft, a lunar lander, and a crewed lunar rover.

In 2020, China successfully brought back lunar samples from the moon on an uncrewed mission, making them the third nation to do so after the United States and the Soviet Union.