China's first crewed lunar mission will involve two launches of Long March 10 rockets from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province to transport mission components into lunar orbit, according to a senior project official.
Wang Xiang, deputy chief planner of China's manned space program and chief designer of the country's crewed lunar exploration project, said on Saturday that the two launches will send a Lanyue lunar lander and a Mengzhou crewed spacecraft into lunar orbit.
Once the two spacecraft reach their designated orbital positions, they will rendezvous and dock. Two astronauts will then transfer to the Lanyue lander, which will separate from the Mengzhou spacecraft and descend to the lunar surface, using its engines to make a soft landing.
Meanwhile, a third astronaut will remain aboard the Mengzhou spacecraft in lunar orbit to support the landing crew.
On the lunar surface, the two astronauts will operate a Tansuo rover to conduct scientific experiments and collect samples. After completing their tasks, they will return to the Lanyue lander, which will carry them back to the Mengzhou spacecraft waiting in lunar orbit.
The two astronauts will then transfer the collected samples to the Mengzhou spacecraft and rejoin their colleague. The spacecraft will subsequently separate from the lander and carry all three crew members back to Earth.
Wang unveiled the mission plan at the 7th Manned Space Symposium, which opened in Beijing on Saturday.
"It is notable that we will deploy a lunar rover on our first crewed landing mission. This will substantially expand our capability to conduct a wide range of operations on the lunar surface and enhance operational flexibility," he told China National Radio on the sidelines of the event.
Wang emphasized that astronaut safety remains the top priority in all of China's crewed space missions.
"Everything we plan to carry out on the moon will first be tested in near-Earth orbit, and all crewed missions will undergo validation through unmanned tests beforehand," he said.
