https://www.scmp.com/rss/512557/feed China is expected to launch its next robot lunar lander in 2024, with Chang’e-6 collecting samples near the lunar south pole before returning to Earth. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Ling Xin Ling Xin Steve Durst, a US space entrepreneur who spent decades building rare bridges with China’s space sector despite restrictions on official cooperation, has died aged 82. Durst, who founded the non-profit International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA), was publishing on China’s astronaut training as early as 1980, when the country’s human space flight ambitions were still little known to the outside world. He died at his home in California last month, shortly after attending a workshop in Chiang... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3343571/steve-durst-us-citizen-space-diplomat-who-reached-out-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3343571/steve-durst-us-citizen-space-diplomat-who-reached-out-china?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Feb 2026 12:00:07 +0000 Ling Xin Ling Xin China’s Chang’e-7 mission this year will be the world’s first to attempt to sample and directly measure water on the moon, but just touching lunar ice could mean losing it, a team of scientists has warned in a new paper. The spacecraft is expected to touch down near the rim of Shackleton crater at the lunar south pole, where it will deploy a rover and hopper to search for ice. While water could support long-term human activity on the moon, from providing drinking water and oxygen to producing... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3340513/first-contact-quest-water-moon-chinese-team-flags-risk-touching-ice?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3340513/first-contact-quest-water-moon-chinese-team-flags-risk-touching-ice?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Jan 2026 05:59:06 +0000 Ling Xin Ling Xin China’s Chang’e-6 lunar mission has yielded groundbreaking findings about the moon’s hidden history, revealing evidence that a colossal asteroid strike more than 4 billion years ago could have fundamentally altered the deep interior of its far side. The research was published as four open-access papers on Wednesday in Nature, one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious scientific journals, which is headquartered in London. While these papers are available to all readers regardless of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3317578/chinas-change-6-findings-reveal-asteroid-strike-may-have-altered-moons-far-side-mantle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3317578/chinas-change-6-findings-reveal-asteroid-strike-may-have-altered-moons-far-side-mantle?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Jul 2025 15:00:08 +0000 Zhang Tong Zhang Tong China has completed the inaugural test flight of its next-generation Mengzhou crewed spacecraft, executing a critical zero-altitude escape trial at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert. The successful test hints at differences in the plans of China and the United States to “return to the moon”. Developed for China’s 2030 lunar ambitions, the modular Mengzhou spacecraft features two variants: a near-Earth version supporting space station operations with a seven-astronaut... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3314870/mengzhou-spacecraft-chinas-moon-landing-mission-passes-landmark-test-flight?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3314870/mengzhou-spacecraft-chinas-moon-landing-mission-passes-landmark-test-flight?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Jun 2025 06:00:12 +0000 Ling Xin Ling Xin The world’s first satellite constellation in Earth-moon space is up and running, after a team of young Chinese engineers recovered two of the spacecraft that had been stranded in the wrong orbit for months following a launch mishap last year. The constellation of three satellites operating in “cislunar” space forms a highly efficient communication and navigation network stretching from low Earth orbit to distant retrograde orbit (DRO), a region 310,000km to 450,000km (192,600-280,000 miles) from... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3307038/port-deep-space-chinas-hopeless-satellites-create-first-earth-moon-nav-com-network?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3307038/port-deep-space-chinas-hopeless-satellites-create-first-earth-moon-nav-com-network?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Apr 2025 14:00:08 +0000 Ling Xin Ling Xin Scientists in China have proposed building a radio telescope array on the moon’s far side, which, if approved, could become the first operational lunar radio observatory. The array would consist of 7,200 butterfly-shaped wire antennas to detect ultra-long wavelength cosmic signals that are blocked by the Earth’s atmosphere but are crucial for understanding the early universe, especially the period before the first stars turned on. While United States scientists have previously proposed similar... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3302926/chinese-scientists-propose-giant-telescope-far-side-moon-understand-early-cosmos?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3302926/chinese-scientists-propose-giant-telescope-far-side-moon-understand-early-cosmos?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Mar 2025 02:00:08 +0000 Chinese scientists have found direct evidence that the moon’s magnetic field persisted well into its midlife, long after it was thought to have disappeared. Researchers analysing tiny rocks returned by China’s Chang’e-5 mission discovered that the moon’s magnetic field measured two to four microteslas around two billion years ago – less than 10 per cent of Earth’s present-day surface field. They published their findings in the Science Advances journal on Thursday. Ross Mitchell, co-author of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3293095/moons-magnetic-pull-lasted-much-longer-thought-chinese-study?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3293095/moons-magnetic-pull-lasted-much-longer-thought-chinese-study?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Jan 2025 10:00:09 +0000 Dannie Peng Dannie Peng When a group of Chinese primary school pupils with a keen interest in astronomy were asked what language the research on China’s Chang’e-6 lunar soil samples should be written in, they stopped smiling. The pupils of Fangcaodi International School, a state-run primary school in Beijing with an emphasis on science education, have closely followed China’s recent lunar endeavours. In June, the Chang’e-6 mission returned home with the first ever samples from the far side of the moon. At the time, the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3283658/why-english-still-language-science-china-and-what-it-means-research?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3283658/why-english-still-language-science-china-and-what-it-means-research?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Dec 2024 22:00:08 +0000 1. Chinese scientists genetically modify tomatoes to make them ‘significantly sweeter’ with 30 per cent more sugar CRISPR technology has been used to modify tomatoes by removing genes that control sugar content, increasing glucose and fructose levels without affecting yield, potentially offering sweeter tomatoes for consumers and higher economic value for producers. 2. World first as China’s Chang’e-6 mission reveals volcanic activity on far side of the moon Chinese and US scientists have... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3286848/chinas-genetically-modified-sweet-tomatoes-ai-robot-lifeguards-5-top-science-stories?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3286848/chinas-genetically-modified-sweet-tomatoes-ai-robot-lifeguards-5-top-science-stories?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Nov 2024 04:56:09 +0000 Ling Xin Ling Xin For the first time, Chinese scientists and their US collaborators have been able to precisely measure the age of volcanic eruptions on the far side of the moon. Previously this was only estimated through remote sensing observations. Two research teams led by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, based in Beijing and Guangzhou, used radiometric dating to analyse isotope decay in basalts, a type of volcanic rock brought back to Earth by China’s Chang’e-6 mission in June. Their studies,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3286659/world-first-chinese-sample-reveals-young-volcanic-activity-moons-far-side?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3286659/world-first-chinese-sample-reveals-young-volcanic-activity-moons-far-side?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 Nov 2024 13:00:09 +0000 China has unveiled materials for the construction of a future lunar base that could be sourced directly from the moon and more durable than conventional concrete bricks. In a report on Saturday, state broadcaster CCTV said the interlocking blocks, which appeared to be black and resembled basalt found on the lunar surface, each weighed about half a kilogram (1 pound). When two blocks are connected, they form a square 3cm (1.2 inches) high and 10cm deep. The building blocks were developed by the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3283107/will-these-be-building-blocks-chinas-base-moon?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3283107/will-these-be-building-blocks-chinas-base-moon?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Oct 2024 12:00:08 +0000 China has offered a first glimpse at the soil samples brought back by the Chang’e-6 mission from the far side of the moon. The Chang’e-6 lunar probe returned to Earth in June after a 53-day mission, during which it collected more than 1.9kg (4.2lbs) of soil through scooping and drilling operations. Three months after the mission, the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) revealed these samples at their Lunar Sample Laboratory in Beijing on... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3279497/chinas-change-6-reveals-greyer-rockier-soil-far-side-moon?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3279497/chinas-change-6-reveals-greyer-rockier-soil-far-side-moon?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Sep 2024 09:17:27 +0000 Researchers from a university in Hong Kong are planning to apply for lunar soil samples from the far side of the moon which China’s historic Chang’e-6 mission brought back to Earth for the first time ever last month. Polytechnic University also said on Wednesday that it had recently secured the loan of lunar soil samples collected by the Chang’e-5 mission in 2020 which would be used for investigations into a search for water on the moon. The China National Space Administration’s Lunar... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3269081/researchers-hong-kong-eye-far-side-moon-soil-samples-chinas-change-6-mission?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3269081/researchers-hong-kong-eye-far-side-moon-soil-samples-chinas-change-6-mission?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Jul 2024 15:42:26 +0000 The Chang’e-6 probe brought back over 1.9kg of samples from the unexplored far side of the moon – more than China’s previous lunar mission, according to its space agency. The lunar rock samples were handed over to the Chinese Academy of Sciences at a ceremony in Beijing on Friday, three days after the Chang’e-6 returned to Earth from its historic mission. “According to preliminary calculations, the Chang’e-6 mission collected 1,935.3 grams [4.26lb] of lunar samples,” the China National Space... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3268451/chinas-lunar-probe-brought-back-19kg-rock-samples-space-agency-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3268451/chinas-lunar-probe-brought-back-19kg-rock-samples-space-agency-says?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Jun 2024 10:00:24 +0000 China welcomes scientists from around the world to study lunar rock samples from the historic Chang’e-6 mission, but a space official said the United States should “remove obstacles” to cooperation between the two nations. Scientists worldwide were encouraged “to jointly carry out scientific research on lunar samples and data”, Bian Zhigang, vice-administrator of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), said on Thursday. Asked at a press conference in Beijing whether scientists from the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3268324/lunar-rock-samples-chinese-space-agency-calls-us-remove-obstacles-cooperation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3268324/lunar-rock-samples-chinese-space-agency-calls-us-remove-obstacles-cooperation?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Jun 2024 13:30:09 +0000 Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed the Chang’e-6 lunar mission’s historic achievement after the first rock samples collected from the moon’s far side landed on Earth at 2.07pm Beijing time on Tuesday. “Your outstanding contributions will be forever remembered by the motherland and the people,” he said in a written address to the team, shortly after the re-entry capsule touched down in the Siziwang Banner grasslands of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. The re-entry and landing procedure... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3267939/chinas-change-6-moon-mission-returns-earth-historic-lunar-far-side-cargo?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3267939/chinas-change-6-moon-mission-returns-earth-historic-lunar-far-side-cargo?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 Jun 2024 06:07:57 +0000 With China’s Chang’e-6 mission on its homeward journey, carrying the first samples to be retrieved from the moon’s far side, the scientific community’s dream of discovering what secrets they hold is about to become a reality. But in what language, and where, will the historic findings be written and published after the samples – scooped from the northeastern part of the moon’s South Pole-Aitken basin on June 2 and expected to weigh up to 2kg (4.4lbs) – are analysed? Within China’s scientific... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3267042/will-chinas-historic-paper-lunar-far-side-samples-be-english-or-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3267042/will-chinas-historic-paper-lunar-far-side-samples-be-english-or-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Jun 2024 14:00:12 +0000 The “photographer” behind the historic image of the Chang’e-6 mission’s lander and the Chinese national flag on the surface of the moon’s far side was a 5kg (11lb) mini-rover using artificial intelligence software. The state-owned China Space Daily said the four-wheeled rover was released from the side of the lander after sample collection was completed on Monday. It moved autonomously across the lunar surface to find the “best” angle for the picture. The rover – also known as an autonomous... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3265548/chinas-change-6-selfie-moons-far-side-taken-ai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3265548/chinas-change-6-selfie-moons-far-side-taken-ai?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Jun 2024 02:06:30 +0000 China’s Chang’e-6 ascent vehicle lifted off from the lunar surface with the first rock samples from the far side of the moon, embarking on a three-week-long journey home. The vehicle, with its cargo of up to 2kg (4.4lbs) of specimens from the moon’s oldest impact basin, lifted off from the lunar surface early on Tuesday morning, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA). “At 7.38am Beijing time, the Chang’e-6 ascender blasted off from the moon’s far side with lunar samples in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3265265/change-6-probe-blasts-moon-first-ever-dark-side-samples?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3265265/change-6-probe-blasts-moon-first-ever-dark-side-samples?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Jun 2024 02:03:45 +0000 China has landed on the moon’s far side for a second time, and will soon start collecting rock samples from the oldest lunar basin to bring back to Earth. The Chang’e-6 lander successfully touched down in the northeastern part of the South Pole-Aitken basin at 6.23am Beijing time on Sunday, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced. “At 6.23 am on June 2, with the support of Queqiao-2 relay satellite, the Chang’e-6 lander and ascender successfully landed in the pre-selected... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3265037/chinas-change-6-lander-touches-down-far-side-moon-mission-bring-rock-samples-back-earth?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3265037/chinas-change-6-lander-touches-down-far-side-moon-mission-bring-rock-samples-back-earth?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Jun 2024 23:07:03 +0000 China has launched a historic mission to return the first samples from the far side of the moon. The Chang’e-6 spacecraft lifted off aboard a Long March 5 rocket from Wenchang Satellite Launch Centre on Hainan Island at 5.27pm Beijing time on Friday, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced shortly after the launch. The rocket’s second stage separated 37 minutes after launch, sending Chang’e-6 into a predetermined Earth-moon transfer orbit, according to CNSA. The mission was... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3261346/chinas-change-6-blasts-mission-fetch-first-rock-samples-far-side-moon?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3261346/chinas-change-6-blasts-mission-fetch-first-rock-samples-far-side-moon?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 May 2024 09:29:06 +0000 Three Chinese satellites have successfully entered lunar orbit, while the status of two others remains unclear after apparent rescue efforts. The Queqiao-2 communication relay satellite, launched from Wenchang Satellite Launch Centre in southern China on March 20, arrived at 440km (273 miles) above the moon’s surface early on Monday morning, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA). Following a 19-minute-long braking burn which began at 12.46am, the spacecraft slowed, was... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3256888/chinas-moon-programme-3-satellites-enter-lunar-orbit-while-fate-2-did-not-reach-planned-altitude-not?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3256888/chinas-moon-programme-3-satellites-enter-lunar-orbit-while-fate-2-did-not-reach-planned-altitude-not?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Mar 2024 06:00:29 +0000 China is planning 100 launches to send more than 300 spacecraft into orbit in 2024 – a new national record and a sharp rise from last year. Among them, about 70 launches will be conducted by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the country’s main space contractor revealed in its annual blue book on Monday. The others will be commercial launches. It represents a 50 per cent increase from last year’s 67 launches in total. The ratio of government versus private launch... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3253346/advanced-satellites-space-station-and-historic-moon-mission-chinas-rocket-launches-will-increase-50?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3253346/advanced-satellites-space-station-and-historic-moon-mission-chinas-rocket-launches-will-increase-50?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Feb 2024 13:30:09 +0000 In the early hours of January 8, the world’s first private mission aspiring to land on the moon blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The moment also marked the United States’ first lunar landing attempt since 1972. Excitement over Peregrine Mission One, however, was short-lived, as the craft failed to orient its solar panels. Then came an irreparable fuel leak, pushing back efforts to send humans into space by at least a year. The setback sharply contrasted with China’s celestial track... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3248637/us-china-space-race-success-depends-lunar-landings-and-orbital-parking-spots?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3248637/us-china-space-race-success-depends-lunar-landings-and-orbital-parking-spots?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Jan 2024 15:00:16 +0000 An American private lunar lander mission frustrated by technical problems is a setback for the United States’ ambitions to return to the moon cost effectively, and might leave it behind in the moon race with China, a space policy expert said. A few hours after the Peregrine spacecraft lifted off from Florida on Monday, carrying scientific instruments and other payload, it suffered a propellant leak, according to Astrobotic, the Pennsylvania-based company that built the craft. The leak caused the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3247917/feared-failure-peregrine-mission-could-put-us-behind-china-moon-race-says-space-policy-expert?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3247917/feared-failure-peregrine-mission-could-put-us-behind-china-moon-race-says-space-policy-expert?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Jan 2024 10:19:38 +0000 China’s next lunar mission – Chang’e 6 – remains on schedule to launch next year on a mission that will see the lander return samples from the far side of the moon to Earth, while hauling payloads from the European Space Agency and Pakistan. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) also posted on its Weibo account on Friday that the Queqiao 2 communications relay satellite is on course to launch in the first half of 2024. The spacecraft will enable communications between the Earth and the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3236327/chinas-next-multi-nation-space-mission-set-reveal-secrets-far-side-moon?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3236327/chinas-next-multi-nation-space-mission-set-reveal-secrets-far-side-moon?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Sep 2023 22:00:10 +0000 Despite its Luna-25 spacecraft crashing, Russia will probably remain China’s major partner to build a base on the moon, although the setback may see the US-led Artemis programme get ahead on its own base project, a space policy researcher says. Russia’s robotic probe, which was scheduled to touch down in the lunar south pole region early this week, encountered an engine failure during Saturday’s manoeuvre to lower its orbit ready for the landing, head of Russian space agency Roscosmos Yury... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3231901/despite-luna-25-spacecraft-crash-china-expected-continue-working-russia-race-moon-base?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3231901/despite-luna-25-spacecraft-crash-china-expected-continue-working-russia-race-moon-base?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Aug 2023 01:00:22 +0000 Scientists say lunar samples from China’s Chang’e 5 mission have helped them understand why lava still flowed on the moon 2 billion years ago – a time when the moon was thought to have cooled down completely. Though the moon’s interior was cooling at the time, a lunar mantle increasingly rich in calcium and titanium – elements with relatively low melting points – may have helped sustain volcanic eruptions that produced the lava, according to a paper in Science Advances on Friday. “Our study... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3196847/why-did-lava-flow-cold-and-dead-moon-chinese-scientists-find-clues?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3196847/why-did-lava-flow-cold-and-dead-moon-chinese-scientists-find-clues?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Oct 2022 18:00:24 +0000 Chinese scientists say they have developed a portable device to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and fuel using lunar soil, water and solar power, raising the prospect of astronauts living on the moon. The researchers said the artificial photosynthesis process used lunar soil as a catalyst, and they aimed to test the system in space, most likely on China’s crewed lunar and Tiangong space station missions. “Based on this system, we can realise a ‘zero-energy consumption’ environment and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3176623/could-small-device-give-oxygen-chinas-human-moon-base-ambitions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3176623/could-small-device-give-oxygen-chinas-human-moon-base-ambitions?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 May 2022 15:00:23 +0000 China plans to hit an asteroid and change its orbit in the next few years in another bold step for the nation’s space programme, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA). CNSA vice administrator Wu Yanhua said the country had started building a defence system against near-Earth asteroids that risked hitting the planet. He said China aimed to conduct close observation of a threatening asteroid and “implement an asteroid impact” to change its orbit “at the end of the 14th... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3175362/chinas-next-space-goal-target-dangerous-asteroid-and-nudge-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3175362/chinas-next-space-goal-target-dangerous-asteroid-and-nudge-it?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 24 Apr 2022 12:04:53 +0000 A lead scientist in China’s lunar programme has unveiled details of plans for the county’s first base on the moon, saying probes will start surveying the south pole for potentially vital resources, such as water. China has teamed up with Russia to compete with the United States and its allies in setting up a permanent outpost on the Moon. China’s lunar probe finds first on-site evidence of water on moon Unlike the Cold War space race, the goal this time is to stay. To do so requires a wide range... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3169728/china-hopes-start-exploratory-work-base-moon-2024-says-leading?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3169728/china-hopes-start-exploratory-work-base-moon-2024-says-leading?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Mar 2022 13:49:17 +0000