China hunts for lunar ice in one of solar system’s coldest places
China is preparing to launch the Chang’e-7 mission to the moon's south pole to search for water ice in permanently shadowed craters. This mission is a key step in China's long-term strategy to establish a permanent human presence on the lunar surface by 2030.
Why it matters
The mission underscores the intensifying global space race and the strategic importance of lunar resources for future space exploration.
BEIJING - China is poised to launch Chang’e-7, its most technologically complex lunar mission to date, in its search for frozen stores of water in permanently shadowed craters near the moon’s south pole.The uncrewed mission, named after a mythical Chinese goddess of the moon, will feature the deployment of a robotic lander, rover, and “hopping” probe to one of the coldest places in the solar system.
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