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| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | CNSA | Blue Origin | CNSA |
| Prime contractor | China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) | Blue Origin | China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) |
| Status | In development | In development | Landed |
| Customer | CNSA | NASA-CLPS | CNSA |
| Launch date | 2026-08 (NET) | 2026-07 (NET) | 2024-05-03 |
| Landing date | — | — | 2024-06-01 |
| Landing site | Shackleton crater illuminated rim, lunar south pole | Lunar south pole region | Apollo crater, South Pole-Aitken Basin (lunar far side) |
| Payload | 18 science payloads across orbiter, lander, rover, mini-hopper, and Queqiao-2 (2026-05-28) | 3,000 kg surface payload capacity (21,350 kg wet lander mass) (2026-05-28) | 1,935.3 g of lunar far-side regolith returned to Earth (2024-06-25) |
| Contract value | — | — | — |
| 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. | First flight test of Blue Moon Mark 1. Carries NASA CLPS Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies + Laser Retroreflective Array. Targets 100 m landing precision. Lander completed full-scale thermal-vacuum testing at NASA Plum Brook (Armstrong Test Facility) May 2026. | First-ever sample return from the lunar far side and the South Pole-Aitken Basin. Used the Queqiao-2 relay satellite for far-side comms. Samples revealed unexpectedly cohesive grain behavior and excavated material from the Moon's mantle. |
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Underlying dataset: GET /api/moon/landers. Methodology: /moon/methodology.