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| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | CNSA | ESA | JAXA |
| Prime contractor | China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) | Thales Alenia Space (prime) | Mitsubishi Electric |
| Status | In development | In development | Landed |
| Customer | CNSA | ESA | JAXA |
| Launch date | 2026-08 (NET) | 2031 (NET) — ArgoNET operational mission | 2023-09-06 |
| Landing date | — | — | 2024-01-19 |
| Landing site | Shackleton crater illuminated rim, lunar south pole | Lunar south pole region (specific site TBD) | Near Shioli crater, Mare Nectaris (~10 m precision vs 100 m target) |
| Payload | 18 science payloads across orbiter, lander, rover, mini-hopper, and Queqiao-2 (2026-05-28) | Up to 2,100 kg payload (~10,000 kg launch mass) (2025-01-30) | LEV-1 (2.1 kg hopper) + LEV-2 'SORA-Q' (0.25 kg sphere) (2024-01-19) |
| Contract value | — | €862M (2025-01-30) | — |
| Outcome | China's first dedicated lunar south-pole prospecting mission. Mini-flying probe hops into permanently shadowed regions to sample for water-ice volatiles. Italian laser retroreflector aboard the lander. | Europe's first dedicated lunar lander program. Designed to deliver cargo, infrastructure, and surface assets supporting Artemis-era operations. Argonaut Mission 1 demonstration NET 2030; first operational mission ArgoNET in 2031. | First Japanese soft landing; made Japan the 5th nation to soft-land on the Moon. One of two main engines failed at ~50 m altitude; lander touched down on its side but still met 100-m precision goal. Survived four lunar-night cycles despite not being designed for it; declared concluded 2024-08-23. |
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Underlying dataset: GET /api/moon/landers. Methodology: /moon/methodology.