China postpones ambitious Chang'e-7 mission to hunt for lunar water ice
China announced on Sunday it is delaying the Chang'e-7 mission, which aimed to search for water ice at the moon's south pole. The space agency said launch conditions were not met and the mission cannot proceed this year.
China said on Sunday that it is postponing its ambitious Chang'e-7 lunar mission. The spacecraft had been scheduled to lift off within days from the Wenchang Space Launch Site on the southern island of Hainan.
In a brief statement, the China Manned Space Agency said the mission does not meet launch conditions and cannot take place within this year's planned window. The agency said the decision followed a comprehensive assessment and was guided by principles of prudence, reliability and ensuring mission success. It did not offer further detail on the reasons behind the postponement.
Mission goals
Preparations at the Wenchang site had been underway for weeks ahead of the planned launch. Chang'e-7 is the seventh mission in China's Chang'e lunar exploration programme, named after a Chinese moon goddess. According to state news agency Xinhua, the mission was designed to achieve breakthroughs in key technologies.
Citing the space agency, Xinhua reported that the spacecraft was meant to investigate permanently shadowed craters and carry out environmental and resource surveys of the lunar south pole, including a search for water ice.
Previous milestone
The programme's earlier probe, Chang'e-6, returned to Earth in 2024 carrying rock and soil samples collected from the far side of the moon — a world first.
