Rendering of Space Development Agency's Transport Layer Tranche 2 Alpha satellites. Credit: Northrop Grumman
Monday, October 30, 2023
Space Development Agency awards Northrop Grumman $732 million contract for 38 satellites and support services
The Space Development Agency awarded Northrop Grumman a $732 million contract for 38 communications satellites that will be part of the U.S. military’s low Earth orbit space architecture, the company announced Oct. 30. These satellites are for the portion of SDA’s mesh network known as Transport Layer Tranche 2 Alpha that will have a total of 100 satellites. The agency selected York Space Systems to build the other 62 spacecraft. Northrop Grumman’s contract includes ground systems and five years of operations and sustainment. The agreement includes an incentive payment for on-time delivery. The Alpha satellites are projected to launch in late 2026. Northrop won order for Alpha and Beta satellites. SDA, an organization under the U.S. Space Force, is building a layered network of military satellites. The Transport Layer will serve as a tactical network to move data to users around the world, transmitting classified data such as early warnings of missile launches. Alpha satellites carry optical communications terminals, Ka-band communications and Link 16 data transmission payloads. Transport Layer Tranche 2 also includes 72 Beta satellites that SDA recently ordered from Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. These carry more complex communications payloads.
Friday, October 27, 2023
Intuitive Machines delays first lander mission to January
Intuitive Machines announced Oct. 27 that is has pushed back the launch of its first lunar lander mission by two months to mid-January. In a statement issued after the markets closed, the company said its IM-1 mission is now scheduled to launch on a Falcon 9 in a “multi-day” window that opens Jan. 12 from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A. The mission had been scheduled to launch in a six-day window that opened Nov. 16. “There are inherent challenges of lunar missions; schedule changes and mission adjustments are a natural consequence of pioneering lunar exploration,” Steve Altemus, chief executive of Intuitive Machines, said in a statement. “Receiving a launch window and the required approvals to fly is a remarkable achievement, and the schedule adjustment is a small price to pay for making history.” The company did not elaborate on the reasons for the delay. However, executives warned at a media event Oct. 3 that “pad congestion” at LC-39A could delay their launch. The mission has to launch from that pad, rather than nearby Space Launch Complex 40, because only LC-39A is equipped to fuel the lander with methane and liquid oxygen propellants on the pad shortly before liftoff. That pad is used for Falcon 9 crew and cargo missions to the International Space Station as well as Falcon Heavy launches. The pad is scheduled to host the Falcon 9 launch of the CRS-29 cargo mission Nov. 5 followed by a Falcon Heavy mission for the Space Force in late November. Converting the pad between Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches can take up to three weeks.
In its statement, Intuitive Machines did not provide an update on the status of the lander. The company said at its Oct. 3 event that the lander was complete and had passed a “pre-ship review” the day before.
IM-1 is the first flight of the company’s Nova-C lander. The 675-kilogram lander is carrying five payloads for NASA as part of the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program and six commercial payloads, ranging from artwork to a camera that will detach during the lander’s final descent to take images as the lander touches down.
IM-1 is targeted to land seven days after launch in the vicinity of Malapert A, a crater in the south polar region of the moon. The spacecraft will operate for nearly two weeks, until the end of the lunar day deprives the lander of power.
The delay means that the first CLPS mission scheduled to launch is now Astrobotic’s Peregrine. That lander is scheduled to launch Dec. 24 on the inaugural flight of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur. Astrobotic said Oct. 27 that Peregrine has left its Pittsburgh headquarters and its on its way to Florida for pre-launch processing.
The Nova-C lander built by Intuitive Machines seen during a media day Oct. 3 for the upcoming IM-1 mission. Credit: SpaceNews/Jeff Foust
IM-1 is the first flight of the company’s Nova-C lander. The 675-kilogram lander is carrying five payloads for NASA as part of the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program and six commercial payloads, ranging from artwork to a camera that will detach during the lander’s final descent to take images as the lander touches down.
IM-1 is targeted to land seven days after launch in the vicinity of Malapert A, a crater in the south polar region of the moon. The spacecraft will operate for nearly two weeks, until the end of the lunar day deprives the lander of power.
The delay means that the first CLPS mission scheduled to launch is now Astrobotic’s Peregrine. That lander is scheduled to launch Dec. 24 on the inaugural flight of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur. Astrobotic said Oct. 27 that Peregrine has left its Pittsburgh headquarters and its on its way to Florida for pre-launch processing.
Thursday, October 19, 2023
Cognitive Space wins two SDA contracts
Cognitive Space, a startup focused on satellite automation, announced two Space Development Agency contracts Oct. 19 with a combined value of $3.22 million. Under a $1.25 million Direct-to-Phase 2 award, Cognitive Space will delve into topology and link management for dynamic satellite networks. With a second $1.97 million Small Business Innovation Research contract, the Houston-based startup will explore routing for communications resiliency in space-based mesh networks. In a news release, Cognitive Space said securing two SDA phase 2 awards in a matter of weeks underscores the value of the company’s Cognitive Inference Tasking (CNTIENT) software platform. CNTIENT will “serve as the software backbone that complements and enhances” SDA’s Transport Layer, a tactical network to move data around the world, according to the news release. Frank Turner, Chief Architect of the Space Development Agency, said in a statement, “The mission of ensuring communication resiliency and the dynamic management of satellite networks is crucial for the warfighter’s success. Cognitive Space’s work is meeting this need today and plays a pivotal role in enhancing our nation’s defense capabilities.” Guy de Carufel, Cognitive Space CEO and founder, said in a statement “Our collaboration with the Space Development Agency is a testament to the technical excellence we bring to the table. CNTIENT isn’t just a technically capable product suite; it plays a pivotal role in enhancing our nation’s defense capabilities. We are proud to be at the forefront of innovation in satellite automation and communication.”
In recent days, Cognitive Space revealed additional funding news. During the second quarter of 2023, the startup raised $4 million in “seed+” funding from York IE, Draper Associates and Dolby Family Ventures. With the funds, Cognitive Space will “further advance its groundbreaking AI-powered software-as-a-service platform, designed to help satellite constellations grow and scale,” according to an Oct. 16 news release.
Cognitive Space is working with Air Force Research Laboratory to use its CNTIENT platform to prototype a hybrid architecture of government and commercial remote-sensing satellites.
Cognitive Space developed a software tool called CNTIENT to manage a hybrid architecture of remote-sensing satellites. Credit: Cognitive Space
Cognitive Space is working with Air Force Research Laboratory to use its CNTIENT platform to prototype a hybrid architecture of government and commercial remote-sensing satellites.
Friday, October 13, 2023
NASA launches Psyche mission to metal world
A NASA spacecraft is finally on its way to a metallic main belt asteroid after a successful Falcon Heavy launch Oct. 13. The SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 10:19 a.m. Eastern. Its payload, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, separated from the upper stage 62 minutes after liftoff. The launch was the eighth for the Falcon Heavy but the first by that rocket for NASA. In a statement, NASA said controllers established two-way communications with the spacecraft at 11:50 a.m. Eastern, confirming the spacecraft was in good condition as it goes through initial post-launch commissioning. Psyche is a Discovery-class planetary science mission whose destination is an object in the main asteroid belt also called Psyche. That asteroid is made primarily of metal and could be the core of a larger object whose outer layers were stripped away. On its way to the asteroid, the Psyche spacecraft will conduct a technology demonstration. The Deep Space Optical Communications payload on the spacecraft will test the ability of lasers to provide high-bandwidth communications at interplanetary distances. The launch took place more than a week into a three-week launch period. In late September NASA delayed the launch, once scheduled for Oct. 5, by a week after a review found concerns with the operating temperature of cold-gas thrusters used to maneuver the spacecraft. Engineers had to revise the operating parameters of the thrusters to avoid overheating.
“There would have been a potential risk of overheating the thrusters and damaging them” if the parameters were not changed, Henry Stone, Psyche project manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said at an Oct. 11 briefing. “It was a serious issue that we had to deal with.”
The changes involve a “select subset of parameters” to the thrusters, he said, but did not elaborate on the changes. Those changes, he said, will not affect Psyche’s operations once at the asteroid. “The changes affected some of the timeline margins that we already had, but we’ll conduct the same operations when we get to the body.”
NASA rescheduled the launch for Oct. 12, but postponed it another day because of poor weather. The launch period ran through Oct. 25, with instantaneous launch windows each day.
Earlier problems
Psyche was originally scheduled to launch in August 2022. Delays in testing the flight software, though, forced NASA to skip launch opportunities in August and October 2022. An independent review found that those testing delays were symptoms of broader institutional issues at JPL.
While the problems with both Psyche and JPL have been corrected, they affected several NASA science missions. The 14-month launch delay pushed back the spacecraft’s arrival at the asteroid from 2026 to August 2029. The mission’s cost also increased 20% from $1 billion to $1.2 billion.
Psyche’s delay also affected Janus, an asteroid smallsat mission that was to fly as a secondary payload on the launch. The delay meant that Janus could not fly its original mission to go by two pairs of binary asteroids, and the mission could not find suitable alternative targets with its revised trajectory. NASA announced in July it was canceling Janus and putting the completed spacecraft in storage.
The institutional issues at JPL uncovered in the independent review of Psyche’s delays led NASA to delay the next Discovery-class mission under development at JPL, the Venus Emissivity, Radio science, InSAR, Topography, And Spectroscopy, or VERITAS. That mission, selected in 2021 for launch in 2028, is now scheduled for launch no earlier than 2031.
The Psyche delay and budget increase added stress to the overall NASA planetary science program already dealing with challenges like Mars Sample Return. In the agency’s fiscal year 2024 budget request, NASA said it was postponing a heliophysics mission, the Geospace Dynamics Constellation, citing “high budgetary requirements” from other programs.
“A new kind of world”
NASA, and scientists involved with Psyche, said the mission is worth the wait and the additional cost. The spacecraft will spend 26 months orbiting at Psyche in four different orbits, studying the largest solar system body made primarily of metal.
“This will be our first time visiting a world that has a metal surface,” said Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Psyche principal investigator at Arizona State University, at a pre-launch briefing.
A key goal of the mission is to determine Psyche’s origins, said Ben Weiss, Psyche deputy principal investigator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “We have two leading ideas about how Psyche formed,” he said, either as the core of a planetesimal that failed to become a planet, or as a primordial body enriched in metal for some reason.
“We are going to go into orbit around Psyche and measure its various properties at lower and lower altitudes,” he said. The spacecraft is equipped with a camera, gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer and magnetometer.
“It’s primary exploration of a new kind of world,” said Elkins-Tanton. “There aren’t that many completely unexplored types of worlds in our solar system to go see, so that is what is so exciting about this.”
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy lifts off Oct. 13 carrying NASA's Psyche spacecraft. Credit: Jordan Sirokie
The changes involve a “select subset of parameters” to the thrusters, he said, but did not elaborate on the changes. Those changes, he said, will not affect Psyche’s operations once at the asteroid. “The changes affected some of the timeline margins that we already had, but we’ll conduct the same operations when we get to the body.”
NASA rescheduled the launch for Oct. 12, but postponed it another day because of poor weather. The launch period ran through Oct. 25, with instantaneous launch windows each day.
Earlier problems
Psyche was originally scheduled to launch in August 2022. Delays in testing the flight software, though, forced NASA to skip launch opportunities in August and October 2022. An independent review found that those testing delays were symptoms of broader institutional issues at JPL.
While the problems with both Psyche and JPL have been corrected, they affected several NASA science missions. The 14-month launch delay pushed back the spacecraft’s arrival at the asteroid from 2026 to August 2029. The mission’s cost also increased 20% from $1 billion to $1.2 billion.
Psyche’s delay also affected Janus, an asteroid smallsat mission that was to fly as a secondary payload on the launch. The delay meant that Janus could not fly its original mission to go by two pairs of binary asteroids, and the mission could not find suitable alternative targets with its revised trajectory. NASA announced in July it was canceling Janus and putting the completed spacecraft in storage.
The institutional issues at JPL uncovered in the independent review of Psyche’s delays led NASA to delay the next Discovery-class mission under development at JPL, the Venus Emissivity, Radio science, InSAR, Topography, And Spectroscopy, or VERITAS. That mission, selected in 2021 for launch in 2028, is now scheduled for launch no earlier than 2031.
The Psyche delay and budget increase added stress to the overall NASA planetary science program already dealing with challenges like Mars Sample Return. In the agency’s fiscal year 2024 budget request, NASA said it was postponing a heliophysics mission, the Geospace Dynamics Constellation, citing “high budgetary requirements” from other programs.
The Psyche spacecraft will arrive at the asteroid of the same name in 2029. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
“A new kind of world”
NASA, and scientists involved with Psyche, said the mission is worth the wait and the additional cost. The spacecraft will spend 26 months orbiting at Psyche in four different orbits, studying the largest solar system body made primarily of metal.
“This will be our first time visiting a world that has a metal surface,” said Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Psyche principal investigator at Arizona State University, at a pre-launch briefing.
A key goal of the mission is to determine Psyche’s origins, said Ben Weiss, Psyche deputy principal investigator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “We have two leading ideas about how Psyche formed,” he said, either as the core of a planetesimal that failed to become a planet, or as a primordial body enriched in metal for some reason.
“We are going to go into orbit around Psyche and measure its various properties at lower and lower altitudes,” he said. The spacecraft is equipped with a camera, gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer and magnetometer.
“It’s primary exploration of a new kind of world,” said Elkins-Tanton. “There aren’t that many completely unexplored types of worlds in our solar system to go see, so that is what is so exciting about this.”
Monday, October 9, 2023
Vega launches a dozen smallsats
A Vega rocket successfully launched a dozen small satellites Oct. 8 while its more powerful version remains grounded for another year. The Vega rocket lifted off from the European spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana, at 9:36 p.m. Eastern. The launch was originally scheduled for Oct. 6 but scrubbed in the final minute of the countdown. Arianespace said the delay was due to “a measurement slightly above its maximum threshold” but did not elaborate. The company rescheduled the launch to Oct. 7 but pushed it back an additional day to complete checks on the vehicle. The two largest payloads on the launch were THEOS-2 and FORMOSAT-7R/TRITON, both placed in sun-synchronous orbits between 600 and 617 kilometers nearly 55 minutes after liftoff. The 417-kilogram THEOS-2 was built by Airbus Defence and Space for Thailand’s Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency. It will provide imagery at resolutions of up to 0.5 meters, providing service continuity for the 15-year-old THEOS-1, also built by Airbus. FORMOSAT-7R/TRITON was built and will be operated by the Taiwan Space Agency. The 241-kilogram satellite will collect radio occultation data from navigation satellites for use in weather forecasting. The Vega carried 10 secondary payloads, cubesats ranging in size from 3U to 12U. The satellites come from a variety of European developers, including those supported by the European Space Agency and European Union, primarily for technology demonstration purposes. Those satellites were released 1 hour and 44 minutes after liftoff, although Arianespace said in an Oct. 9 statement that it was still awaiting confirmation of the deployment of two of the cubesats.
The launch, designated VV23 by Arianespace, was the first for the Vega family of vehicles since the December 2022 failure of the more powerful Vega C on its second launch. That failure was blamed on the Zefiro 40 motor used as the second stage of the Vega C. The original Vega, flown on this launch, uses the smaller Zefiro 23 motor as its second stage.
The Vega C remains grounded after an anomaly during a static-fire test of the upgraded Zefiro 40 motor in June. The investigation into that incident found problems with the design of the motor’s nozzle after its carbon-carbon throat insert was replaced to address the cause of the December launch failure.
ESA said Oct. 2 that the return to flight of the Vega C, previously projected to take place before the end of this year, has been pushed out to the fourth quarter of 2024 to given engineers time to make changes in the motor and conduct two static-fire tests.
Arianespace said a final launch of the original version of Vega is planned for the second quarter of 2024. The customer for that launch, as well as the return to flight of Vega C, has not been announced.
A Vega rocket lifts off Oct. 8 on the first launch for that family of vehicles since a December 2022 failure of a larger Vega C rocket. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace
The launch, designated VV23 by Arianespace, was the first for the Vega family of vehicles since the December 2022 failure of the more powerful Vega C on its second launch. That failure was blamed on the Zefiro 40 motor used as the second stage of the Vega C. The original Vega, flown on this launch, uses the smaller Zefiro 23 motor as its second stage.
ESA said Oct. 2 that the return to flight of the Vega C, previously projected to take place before the end of this year, has been pushed out to the fourth quarter of 2024 to given engineers time to make changes in the motor and conduct two static-fire tests.
Arianespace said a final launch of the original version of Vega is planned for the second quarter of 2024. The customer for that launch, as well as the return to flight of Vega C, has not been announced.
Thursday, October 5, 2023
Rocket Lab opens engine facility in former Virgin Orbit headquarters
Rocket Lab has opened a new engine development center in a building that, six months earlier, was the headquarters of a competing launch company, Virgin Orbit. Rocket Lab held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct. 4 for its Engine Development Center here. The 13,400-square-meter facility will be used for production of both the Rutherford engines used on its Electron rocket and larger Archimedes engines it is developing for the Neutron rocket. The facility had previously been the headquarters for Virgin Orbit, where that company built its LauncherOne rockets. Virgin Orbit filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April and Rocket Lab acquired the lease on the building, along with the machinery and equipment inside, for $16.1 million in a bankruptcy auction in May. Rocket Lab previously estimated the value of the facility and its contents at about $100 million. However, Adam Spice, Rocket Lab’s chief financial officer, said in an interview that the biggest impact of the purchase is “de-risking” the schedule for scaling up engine production. “Things that we were thinking we could probably get done in 12 to 18 months, well, it’s done. So really it was more of a timeline and uncertainty shrinker, if you will,” he said. “Getting stuff for 16 cents on the dollar didn’t hurt as well.” Before the bankruptcy sale, Rocket Lab has planned to produce engines in its existing headquarters just a few blocks away. “We could have done that, but that wouldn’t have allowed for the expansion of our space systems business,” he said, which produces satellites. “It’s freed up a tremendous amount of ability to scale up our space systems business. It’s probably a bigger enabler for space systems than it is for the rocket part of our business.”
The proximity of the new engine facility to Rocket Lab’s existing headquarters is another benefit, he added. “We really lucked out.”
Rocket Lab began moving into the building days after the bankruptcy sale closed. Employees started setting up equipment for engine production while organizing the items left behind by Virgin Orbit. Company employees said on a tour that they are still cataloging the inventory of items in the building, which ranged from advanced industrial equipment to large stockpiles of furniture and office equipment.
Spice said the company is already producing parts for the Archimedes engine, and over the previous weekend started moving the production line for the Rutherford engine into the new building. Full-scale engine production will ramp up over the next few months.
The new Rocket Lab facility also benefits the city of Long Beach, which has made a concerted effort in recent years to attract space companies to the city, including Rocket Lab as well as Relativity Space, SpinLaunch and Vast, under an initiative called “Space Beach”. Virgin Orbit had been the first, setting up that facility when it was still a division of Virgin Galactic.
“We were bummed about that,” Rex Richardson, mayor of Long Beach, said of Virgin Orbit’s bankruptcy at the dedication ceremony. “That was our first Space Beach company.”
He thanked Rocket Lab for taking over the facility and working with the city on job fairs for former Virgin Orbit employees. “What that means is that this burgeoning space cluster we have in Long Beach is resilient,” he said.
Rocket Lab, meanwhile, is continuing to investigate the Sept. 19 Electron launch failure. Spice said the investigation is still in its “early days” and didn’t offer a specific timetable for completing it or returning Electron to flight.
“Nothing right now would indicate anything different” for a return to flight compared to the two previous Electron launch failures in July 2020 and May 2021, he said. Those two previous failures both involved the upper stage, which also appeared to be the case with the latest failure, and the company resumed Electron launches within a few months.
“We’re confident we’ll get back relatively soon,” he said.
Rocket Lab will use the former headquarters of Virgin Orbit for producing Rutherford and Archimedes engines. Credit: Rocket Lab/Austin Adams
The proximity of the new engine facility to Rocket Lab’s existing headquarters is another benefit, he added. “We really lucked out.”
Rocket Lab began moving into the building days after the bankruptcy sale closed. Employees started setting up equipment for engine production while organizing the items left behind by Virgin Orbit. Company employees said on a tour that they are still cataloging the inventory of items in the building, which ranged from advanced industrial equipment to large stockpiles of furniture and office equipment.
Spice said the company is already producing parts for the Archimedes engine, and over the previous weekend started moving the production line for the Rutherford engine into the new building. Full-scale engine production will ramp up over the next few months.
“We were bummed about that,” Rex Richardson, mayor of Long Beach, said of Virgin Orbit’s bankruptcy at the dedication ceremony. “That was our first Space Beach company.”
He thanked Rocket Lab for taking over the facility and working with the city on job fairs for former Virgin Orbit employees. “What that means is that this burgeoning space cluster we have in Long Beach is resilient,” he said.
Rocket Lab, meanwhile, is continuing to investigate the Sept. 19 Electron launch failure. Spice said the investigation is still in its “early days” and didn’t offer a specific timetable for completing it or returning Electron to flight.
“Nothing right now would indicate anything different” for a return to flight compared to the two previous Electron launch failures in July 2020 and May 2021, he said. Those two previous failures both involved the upper stage, which also appeared to be the case with the latest failure, and the company resumed Electron launches within a few months.
“We’re confident we’ll get back relatively soon,” he said.
Monday, October 2, 2023
China outlines Chang’e-8 resource utilization mission to the lunar south pole
China has laid out details of its planned Chang’e-8 mission to test in-situ resource utilization on the moon, while also opening the project to international cooperation. Chang’e-8 is slated to launch in 2028 on a Long March 5 rocket from Wenchang spaceport. It will serve as a basis for China’s future, larger-scale International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) project, China National Space Administration (CNSA) officials stated at the 74th International Astronautical Congress in Baku, Oct. 2. The mission will consist of a lander, rover and robot. Science objectives include investigating the local geology, moon-based Earth observation, analyzing in-situ lunar samples and experimenting with resource utilization. Testing an enclosed terrestrial ecosystem in the lunar environment is also noted. The mission builds on China’s progress and achievements over the past decade and will verify key technologies for future missions. Li Guoping, chief engineer at CNSA, announced that China is open to international cooperation for the mission at different levels, from mission, to system and payload-levels. This was later clarified to include 200 kilograms of payload capacity for piggyback missions. CNSA set a deadline of Dec. 31 for letters of intent, with preliminary and final selections to be completed by April and September 2024 respectively. Wang Qiong, deputy chief designer of Chang’e-8, provided further details on the mission.
Regions around Leibnitz Beta, Amundsen crater, Cabeus crater and the Shackleton-de Gerlache Ridge are cited as preliminary landing sites. Three of these, including the latter connecting ridge, are being considered for the Artemis 3 crewed landing mission.
The Chang’e-8 lander will carry 10 science payloads with a further four on the rover. The lander will carry landing and topography cameras, a seismometer, moon-based Earth radiometer and multispectral imager, a soft X-ray telescope and other payloads along with the ecosystem and ISRU instruments.
The rover is equipped with 4 scientific payloads. These include a panoramic camera and lunar penetrating radar, as with rovers from the Chang’e-3 and -4 missions. It will also feature an infrared spectrum mineral analyzer and in-situ lunar sample analysis and storage device.
The mission will follow Chang’e-7 in 2026. That mission will also target the lunar south pole. Together with Chang’e-8 these missions will lay the groundwork for the grander ILRS project in the 2030s.
Chang’e-6, a first-ever lunar far side sample return, will launch in the first half of 2024 according to CNSA officials. This will follow the deployment of the Queqiao-2 relay satellite to support the mission.
The ILRS will be constructed using super heavy-lift rocket launches in the 2030s, according to Yu Dengyun, chief designer of the fourth phase of China’s lunar exploration project.
Yu stated that the ILRS would also, in its later utilization phase around 2040, serve as validation of technology and capabilities for a crewed mission to Mars.
Artist impression of China's Chang'e-8 moon lander. Credit: CNSA
The rover is equipped with 4 scientific payloads. These include a panoramic camera and lunar penetrating radar, as with rovers from the Chang’e-3 and -4 missions. It will also feature an infrared spectrum mineral analyzer and in-situ lunar sample analysis and storage device.
The mission will follow Chang’e-7 in 2026. That mission will also target the lunar south pole. Together with Chang’e-8 these missions will lay the groundwork for the grander ILRS project in the 2030s.
Chang’e-6, a first-ever lunar far side sample return, will launch in the first half of 2024 according to CNSA officials. This will follow the deployment of the Queqiao-2 relay satellite to support the mission.
The ILRS will be constructed using super heavy-lift rocket launches in the 2030s, according to Yu Dengyun, chief designer of the fourth phase of China’s lunar exploration project.
Yu stated that the ILRS would also, in its later utilization phase around 2040, serve as validation of technology and capabilities for a crewed mission to Mars.
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