Even as the Chang'e 6 mission comes to a close, its powerful aid, the relay satellite Queqiao 2, will continue to work for at least eight years. It has been tasked with new goals related to China's lunar exploration.
ZOU YONGLIAO Director, Lunar and Deep Space Exploration Department Chinese Academy of Sciences "We plan to launch the Chang'e 7 mission around 2026. It will land on the south pole of the moon's near side. This mission will still require the Queqiao 2 relay satellite for relay communication. In Phase Four of the lunar exploration, there is also a Chang'e 8 mission scheduled for 2028. It will also land on the moon's South Pole and will again require the Queqiao 2 relay satellite. So the Queqiao 2 is the master switch for the four missions in Phase Four Lunar Exploration, and it needs to work for at least 8 years. Regarding the research objective of the 'Transparent Moon,' to put it in a simple way, we know a lot about the lunar surface, we have high-resolution cameras, spectrometers for that. But we don't know enough about the inside of the moon. We hope to use multi-physical field probes to help us understand the interior of the moon. For example, what are the materials inside, how are they distributed, and what are the characteristics of those materials."
