According to state-run CCTV, China’s National Space Administration, the country’s version of NASA, has gotten authorisation to send three orbiters to the moon as part of the Chang’e lunar programme, according to Liu Jizhong, an official with the China Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center. The statement comes just one day after China announced the discovery of a new lunar mineral using samples recovered by its Chang’e-5 mission.
China intends to undertake three unmanned missions to the moon over the next ten years in order to compete with the United States in the new era of space exploration.
Changesite-(Y), the new mineral, was defined as a form of colourless clear columnar crystal by the state-run Xinhua news agency. It is claimed to include helium-3, an isotope that has been proposed as a potential future energy source.
China has increased its space ambitions in recent years, sending probes to the moon, building its own space station, and setting its sights on Mars, putting it in direct conflict with the United States. NASA has a rover on Mars and hopes to return astronauts to the moon this decade. Both countries are interested in the moon’s minerals, and space mining is predicted to be the next source of conflict.
The two sides have been trading insults in recent weeks, following the postponement of the United States’ Artemis I mission, the country’s first significant drive to return to the moon in half a century. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has accused China of stealing space technology and has blasted the country for space debris.
China’s lunar exploration programme, established in 2004, launched its first spacecraft three years later. The Chang’e programme, named after the Chinese moon goddess, has recently concentrated on gathering samples from the lunar surface. The Chang’e-7 programme will aim for the moon’s South Pole, which scientists believe is the ideal spot to look for water. NASA is also eyeing that region of the moon.
According to Liu, a government official, China hopes to eventually create a moon-based international research station.
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