China Report: New lunar landing plans from China

By Andrew Jones

Welcome back. In this edition, there are lots of lunar program details to dig into. That includes new outlines for China’s crewed moon missions, as well as movement at Wenchang spaceport ahead of a crucial test mission. There are also commercial launch developments, and an impressive first clear image of China’s spaceplane, captured by a U.S. satellite.

If someone forwarded you this edition, sign up to receive it directly in your inbox every other Wednesday. And we're eager to hear your feedback and suggestions for what specific coverage you'd find useful. You can email [email protected] to let us know directly.

China’s crewed moon mission timeline

One of the most closely followed, potentially consequential and yet highly opaque space programs is China’s effort to get astronauts to the moon. And despite apparent delays to a first flight of the Long March 10A rocket and the Mengzhou crew spacecraft, earlier planned for 2026, the country remains committed to its goal of putting boots on the moon before 2030. At the 7th Manned Space Symposium in Beijing, Wang Xiang laid out the path to the crewed landing. After an uncrewed test flight of Mengzhou, China will send the Lanyue moon lander on a lunar landing test mission on a Long March 10 technology verification flight — a mission for which China is soliciting payloads in lieu of crew. This will then lead to a full, uncrewed rehearsal mission with Mengzhou and Lanyue launching on separate Long March 10s and docking in lunar orbit. If all goes according to plan, China then has a path to making a crewed lunar landing attempt before the end of the decade.

Preparations for crucial flight test appear to be underway

In a related development, enthusiast footage appears to show hardware arriving at Wenchang, signaling that early prep for the Long March 10A/Mengzhou-1 debut is underway. Mengzhou-1, the first full orbital mission for the successor to Shenzhou, will fly uncrewed on a Long March 10A and visit the Tiangong space station. Such missions will be used to validate the hardware for the grander, crewed lunar plans. China has not commented officially, but launch could come in early 2027.

U.S. intelligence report publishes clear image of China’s spaceplane

DIA’s Challenges to Security in Space 2026 report came out Oct. 26, and among the analysis was a Maxar-credited image of China’s reusable spaceplane, taken May 28, 2024, by World View-3 from a distance of 90 kilometers. It appears attached to an apparent service module with deployed solar arrays spanning more than 10 meters, with cargo bay doors seemingly open. The spaceplane is currently in orbit on its fourth mission.

SPONSORED

Welcome to Space Tech Expo Europe, the premier gathering for space engineering and technology. Get ready to ignite your network, engage with top industry players, and discover the latest advancements in one convenient location. Join us for an unparalleled opportunity to elevate your expertise and forge meaningful connections in the ever-evolving world of space technology. From launch services, satellite operations, communications and ground systems, to materials suppliers, subsystems, engineering services, components, software suppliers and more, this is where the European space community converges to source solutions, build partnerships, and drive progress. Register now at Space Tech Expo Europe 2026.

Spaceplanes: there is another

Landspace’s Zhuque-3 won an AVIC 611 Institute launch tender, understood to be for Haolong. Haolong is a reusable cargo spaceplane for Tiangong, up to 7,000 kilograms, 10 meters long and 8 meters wide, with wings that fold to fit inside a fairing. It’s a civilian counterpart to the military spaceplane above, built to return cargo from Tiangong, and pairs with the Qingzhou capsule in China’s low-cost resupply push.

Launch activities and developments

China remains on course for yet another national record-breaking year of launches, with the latest activity including sending a new Yaogan-50 spy satellite into a highly retrograde orbit using a Long March 6A, followed by a Long March 4B adding two sets of Yaogan triplets.

There’s also progress on infrastructure to help sustain China’s ever growing launch rate, with pads 3 and 4 at the Hainan commercial site near Wenchang in the final stages of construction. The two new pads are expected to come online at Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site before the end of the year, and with all four pads, annual capacity is designed for 60 launches.

And there’s progress for commercial players, too: Deep Blue Aerospace has finished the 5-meter stainless-steel first-stage tanks for its Nebula-2, while its Thunder RS engine has completed a full-duration hot fire. iSpace has completed static load tests on key Hyperbola-3 structures but has given no new date for a first flight that was earlier targeted for 2026.

Star Vision to build AI constellation for Oman

Commercial firm Star Vision signed agreements with Oman Lens to develop, launch and operate an AI-enabled constellation of up to 20 satellites. The deal came during the Sultan of Oman’s state visit to China, and follows Chinese efforts to engage in the Gulf in the space sector.

FROM SPACENEWS

Register to join SpaceNews and RTX on Thursday: Satellite operations are growing more complex. For national security missions, that means faster decisionmaking, greater resilience and the ability to adapt on orbit is needed. Join us on Nov. 5 for a conversation exploring how emerging technologies and commercial capabilities are transforming satellite operations and enabling more dynamic, resilient and affordable national security space missions. Register now.

📨 Don't miss what's next. Sign up for other SpaceNews newsletters:

SpaceNews.com | Advertise with SpaceNews
Contact us | Privacy policy | Terms and conditions

© 2026, SpaceNews, 100 Fillmore Street, 5th Floor, Denver, CO 80206, United States