Lanyue: China announced Friday that it has successfully completed a comprehensive landing and takeoff test of its manned lunar lander at a test site in Huailai County, Hebei Province, northern China.
According to Qatar News Agency, the China Manned Space Agency explained in a statement that this test represents a major step in the development of the country’s manned lunar exploration program, adding that it is also the first time China has conducted a manned spacecraft landing and takeoff test outside Earth.
The lunar vehicle, named Lanyue, meaning “embrace the moon,” consists of a landing module, a propulsion module, and a newly developed spacecraft to support manned missions to and from the lunar surface.
The vehicle will be used to transport two Chinese astronauts between lunar orbit and the lunar surface, and will also carry a lunar rover and other scientific payloads. After landing, it will serve as a life support center, power center, and data center, providing support and acting as a base for astron
auts to live and conduct their activities on the lunar surface.
China aims to land astronauts on the lunar surface by 2030 to carry out scientific exploration missions.