Chang'e 7

Mission Profile

Prime Contractors

Companies that built, launched, or operate this mission. Tickers link to their investor profile.

• China Academy of Space Technology (CAST)
• China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT)

Overview

Chang'e 7 is the next phase of China's lunar exploration program and the first dedicated mission to extensively survey the lunar south pole for water ice. The complex mission stack includes an orbiter, a lander with a rover, a separate small 'mini-flying detector' capable of hopping into permanently shadowed craters, and the Queqiao-2 relay satellite already launched in March 2024 to support both Chang'e 7 and the earlier Chang'e 6 sample return. The lander targets Shackleton Crater's rim — among the most strategically important locations on the Moon, given persistent illumination on rim peaks alongside permanently shadowed cold traps where water ice is most likely to survive. The mini-flying detector, a unique element of the mission, is designed to fly into a shadowed crater interior, sample volatiles, and return to the lander for analysis — circumventing the extreme cold and rough terrain that have prevented past missions from accessing such regions directly. Chang'e 7 is foundational for the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), the joint Sino-Russian program that aims to establish a robotic and eventually crewed scientific base on the Moon by the late 2030s, and it pre-stages the larger Chang'e 8 ISRU experiment.

Key Milestones

1. 2020-12-17

   Chang'e 5 returns first Chinese lunar samples

2. 2024-03-20

   Queqiao-2 relay satellite launches successfully

3. 2024-06-25

   Chang'e 6 returns first samples from lunar far side

4. TBD ~2026

   Chang'e 7 launch on Long March 5

5. TBD ~2027

   Chang'e 7 surface operations at lunar south pole

Related Missions

Sources

1. CNSA — Lunar Exploration Program
2. Nature Astronomy — China's Lunar Plans