China Reveals Plan for Its First Crewed Moon Landing Before 2030

China has laid out the clearest picture yet of how it intends to put its astronauts on the Moon. Speaking at the Seventh Manned Space Symposium in Beijing, which brought together more than 800 experts, Wang Xiang, deputy chief designer of China’s human spaceflight programme and chief designer of its crewed lunar programme, described the step-by-step plan for the first China crewed Moon landing, targeted before 2030. The plan uses two rockets, a rendezvous in lunar orbit and a series of uncrewed rehearsals before any taikonaut sets foot on the surface.

The announcement, made as China marks 70 years of its space programme and starts its 15th five-year plan (2026–2030), has drawn worldwide attention because it sets up a direct comparison with NASA’s Artemis programme, which aims to return Americans to the Moon over a similar timescale.

Two rockets, one Moon landing

Instead of one giant rocket, China will use two launches of its new Long March 10 rocket. The first will send the Lanyue lander to the Moon; the second will launch the Mengzhou spacecraft with three taikonauts on board. The two vehicles will meet and dock in orbit around the Moon. Two of the crew will then move into Lanyue and descend to the surface, while the third stays in orbit aboard Mengzhou, much as the Apollo command module pilot did.

After their work on the surface, the two taikonauts will lift off in Lanyue, dock again with Mengzhou in lunar orbit and return to Earth in the Mengzhou capsule. The names are poetic: Mengzhou means “dream vessel” and Lanyue means “embracing the Moon”, from a line of a poem by Mao Zedong.

Near-Earth first, then the Moon

Wang stressed that every critical step will be tested before people fly. “This is the validation process for the rocket: near-Earth first, then the Moon,” he said. The sequence he outlined is:

• Near-Earth tests: a version of the rocket, the Long March 10A, will launch a near-Earth Mengzhou on missions to China’s Tiangong space station, proving the rocket’s basic technology and the capsule’s re-entry and return. Operations planned for lunar orbit, such as rendezvous and docking, will be rehearsed close to Earth wherever possible.
• Uncrewed lunar flights: the full lunar Long March 10 will launch a lunar Mengzhou, and an uncrewed Lanyue mission will test launch, entry into lunar orbit, docking with Mengzhou, landing, a stay on the surface, take-off and re-docking.
• Crewed landing: only after those tests succeed will taikonauts attempt the landing. “This is to ensure that the crewed flight is safe and reliable,” Wang said.

The uncrewed Lanyue flight will also gather data on surface temperature, lunar dust and the spacecraft’s performance, and China is inviting researchers nationwide to propose small experiments to ride along, with a total limit of 50 kilograms and 100 watts per mission.

What has already been tested

Much of the hardware is already well advanced. The Lanyue lander design was first shown in 2023 and named in early 2024, and in 2025 engineers carried out a tethered test that simulated its descent, guidance and engine shutdown. In June 2025 the Mengzhou capsule completed abort tests, including an escape from the launch pad. China has also revealed a new lunar spacesuit, named Wangyu, and a crewed lunar rover, and in 2026 the Long March 10 flew a low-altitude demonstration test. The full lunar rocket is designed to send a payload of about 27 tonnes towards the Moon.

How it compares with NASA’s Artemis

China’s step-by-step approach closely mirrors NASA’s. The uncrewed Artemis I mission flew around the Moon in 2022, and in April 2026 Artemis II carried four astronauts around the Moon and back. NASA’s next mission, Artemis III, also now relies on separate launches of the Orion crew capsule and a commercial landing system that meet in space, a strategy similar to China’s two-rocket plan. Both nations are aiming for the Moon’s surface within the next few years, and both have identified the area around the lunar south pole, where water ice may exist in permanently shadowed craters, as a prime target for long-term exploration.

China has an impressive robotic track record on the Moon: the Chang’e 4 lander made the first soft landing on the far side in 2019, and Chang’e 5 and Chang’e 6 returned samples from the near side and far side in 2020 and 2024. The next robotic mission, Chang’e 7, which will hunt for ice near the south pole, was called off a day before launch in August 2026 after failing to meet launch criteria and is now expected to try again next year.

What to watch for next

The road to the first China crewed Moon landing now runs through a series of milestones that will be easy to follow over the next few years. The first big one will be the debut of the Long March 10A carrying a near-Earth Mengzhou to the Tiangong station, the first real flight test of the new capsule in orbit. After that come the first launches of the full lunar Long March 10, the uncrewed Mengzhou and Lanyue missions to the Moon, and the selection and training of the taikonauts who will make the trip. On the robotic side, China plans to retry the Chang’e 7 south-pole mission next year, followed by Chang’e 8, which is meant to test technologies for the future research station. Each of these flights will be a test of the hardware and of China’s pace, and each will be watched closely in Washington as NASA prepares its own Artemis landing.

A base on the Moon after 2030

The crewed landing is a step towards something bigger. China and partner nations plan to begin building the International Lunar Research Station near the lunar south pole from around 2031, using the even larger Long March 9 rocket. If the plan holds, the 2030s could see both Chinese and American crews working on the Moon at the same time.

You can follow every upcoming Chinese launch on our China launch schedule, see all missions worldwide on the rocket launch schedule, and compare the two crewed outposts in orbit today in our guide ISS vs Tiangong. For the Moon itself, check tonight’s phase on our Moon phase tonight page.

Sources: Universe Today: China unveils their plan for a crewed Moon landing; The Register: China outlines plans for moonshot it hopes to land by 2030; Leonard David: China presses forward on human Moon landing before 2030.