In a major stride toward its ambitious lunar goals, China has successfully carried out the first full-scale test of its Lanyue lunar landing module, designed to carry astronauts to the Moon’s surface and back as part of a crewed mission planned before the end of the decade.

This file photo shows a manned lunar lander during a trial at a test site in Huailai County, north China's Hebei Province.
The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced that the landmark test was conducted on August 6 at the extraterrestrial landing test facility in Huailai County, Hebei Province. The site simulates the Moon’s rugged environment, complete with craters, reflective surfaces, and rocky terrain.
The Lanyue module — whose name means “Embrace the Moon” in Mandarin — is a multifunctional spacecraft that will serve as both a descent-ascent vehicle and a temporary living and operations station for astronauts on the lunar surface. During the recent trial, the module underwent a comprehensive verification process, including assessments of its guidance, navigation, and control systems (GNC), propulsion mechanisms, landing shutdown procedures, and subsystem integration.
The CMSA called the test a "critical milestone" and China's first-ever landing and takeoff experiment for a manned spacecraft on an extraterrestrial body. The agency emphasized the complexity of the test and the high technical standards it required, hailing it as a major breakthrough for China’s lunar ambitions.
As outlined earlier this year, China intends to land astronauts on the Moon before 2030. Two Long March carrier rockets will separately launch the lunar lander and a manned spacecraft into orbit. After docking in lunar orbit, taikonauts will transfer into the Lanyue lander to descend to the Moon’s surface. Once there, they will deploy a lunar rover — named Tansuo (“explore the unknown”) — for scientific exploration.
The astronauts will be chosen from China's current pool of space veterans, all of whom have previously served aboard the China Space Station, according to Yang Liwei, China’s first astronaut and deputy chief designer of the manned space program.
Complementing the Lanyue lander, CMSA earlier revealed the name of the lunar spacesuit as Wangyu, meaning “gazing into the cosmos.” These new technologies and systems are being developed as China lays the groundwork for even larger ambitions — including a China-Russia International Lunar Research Station by 2035, which is slated to feature a nuclear power source on the Moon’s surface.
The announcement comes as China intensifies its competition with the United States in lunar exploration. NASA's Artemis program is targeting a crewed lunar flyby in 2026, followed by a Moon landing in 2027.
In recent years, China has successfully conducted robotic missions to the Moon, including sample-return missions from both the near and far sides. These efforts have sparked global scientific interest, drawing collaboration and attention from the European Space Agency, as well as researchers in the U.S., Pakistan, and Thailand.
With the successful Lanyue test, China is now one step closer to becoming only the second nation to put humans on the Moon — and the first to establish a sustained lunar presence beyond 2030.
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