China is set to launch its first moon landing at the end of the year which is just one of the series of lunar probe plans laid out including sending a man after 2020 and building their own space station.
Xinhua reported on Wednesday that the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence made the announcement.
China has launched its first unmanned moon orbiter in 2007 dubbed as the Chang'e One, named after a Chinese moon goddess, as part of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program. The program is a series of robotic and manned missions under the China National Space Administration. It includes four stages: orbital mission, soft lander, automated sample return, and manned lunar landing. The program aims to accomplish the final stage by 2017.
China is launching Chang'e-3, one of the two lunar landers planned to be deployed by end of the year. The probe aims to explore a small area in the moon for three months which will be equipped with a radioisotope thermoelectric generator for stable energy source.
"Chang'e-3 has officially entered its launch stage, following its research and manufacture period," said a statement released by the administration after Wednesday's meeting on the mission.
"The mission will see a Chinese orbiter soft-land, or land on the moon after using a technique to slow its speed, on a celestial body for the first time," Xinhua added, without providing further details.
Ma Xingrui, head of China's space exploration body and chief commander of the lunar program, said that the technology used by the upcoming launch is ground-breaking knowing that is a complex mission.
Xinhua confirmed that the Chang'e-3 carrier, launch pad, control and ground systems are all set for the mission though there is no specific date yet. It will be launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China.
