China’s Is Ready For Next-Generation Crewed Spacecraft Set for Lunar Missions and Beyond

Ambitious plans aim for a crewed lunar landing by 2030, with the first flights scheduled between 2027 and 2028.

China plans to launch a next-generation crewed spacecraft capable of carrying astronauts to the moon even far and beyond around 2027. This new spacecraft will be used for crewed lunar missions, building their space station, and exploring deep space.

Yang Liwei, the deputy chief designer China’s human spaceflight program, mentioned this during a talk at a university on July 18, according to Reuters and the state-run Guangzhou Daily.

The first flights of this new spacecraft are expected to occur between 2027 and 2028. In 2020, China tested a boilerplate version of the spacecraft as part of a test launch for lofting space station modules, and the return capsule from that test is now on display.

The spacecraft is crucial to China’s plan to land a pair of astronauts on the moon by 2030. It will have partial reusability, and a new rocket named the Long March 10 is currently being developed to launch the spacecraft.

The deep-space version of the spacecraft will be capable of carrying three astronauts into a lunar transfer orbit. In comparison, a low Earth orbit variant will be able to transport four to seven astronauts to China’s newly completed Tiangong space station.

China uses the Shenzhou spacecraft to send up to three astronauts to low Earth orbit. Yang Liwei was the country’s first astronaut in orbit aboard the Shenzhou 5 mission 2003.

The crew of Shenzhou 16 is aboard the Tiangong space station, having arrived on May 30 for a roughly six-month stay. The new spacecraft and the development of the Long March 10 rocket represent China’s ambitious efforts to advance its space exploration capabilities and work towards crewed lunar missions and deep-space exploration…

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