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# China details its path to a crewed Moon landing before 2030
- URL: https://engineerpal.com/china-crewed-moon-landing-plan/
- Published: 2026-11-03T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-03T12:00:00.000Z
- Description: Officials laid out four flights, starting with an uncrewed test in early 2027. The plan has no crewed trip around the Moon first.
- Author: Leo Grant
- Tags: Space, China, Moon, Spaceflight

China has published its most detailed plan yet for landing astronauts on the Moon "before 2030," a sequence of four flights that begins with an uncrewed test in early 2027.

Wang Xiang, deputy chief designer of China's manned space program and chief designer of its lunar exploration program, outlined the plan on Saturday (Oct. 31) at the 7th Manned Space Symposium in Beijing, [Xinhua reported](https://english.news.cn/20261101/04c436b70e094974aaf38487a11ebc3a/c.html?ref=engineerpal.com). He called the approach "two launches, lunar orbit rendezvous."

Two Long March 10 rockets will send the Lanyue lander and the Mengzhou crew spacecraft toward the Moon separately, Xinhua said. The vehicles will dock in lunar orbit, and astronauts will move from Mengzhou into Lanyue for the descent. China's state broadcaster CCTV said three astronauts will fly, with two landing and one staying in orbit, according to [a summary of the coverage](https://xenospectrum.com/en/china-crewed-moon-landing-uncrewed-lander/?ref=engineerpal.com).

The dates come from slides from the presentation that circulated on social media, which [Ars Technica](https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/11/china-releases-timeline-for-lunar-landing-on-the-moon-targeting-before-2030/?ref=engineerpal.com) summarized. Xinhua's account does not list the interim dates, and the final landing date is given only as "before 2030."

![Timeline chart of four planned Chinese missions leading to a crewed Moon landing before 2030](https://engineerpal.com/content/images/2026/11/china-crewed-moon-plan-timeline.jpg)

China's planned flight sequence, based on slides from the symposium that circulated on social media and were reported by Ars Technica. Chart: EngineerPal

The first step, in early 2027, is an uncrewed Long March 10A, a version without side boosters, carrying Mengzhou to low Earth orbit. In 2028, the full Long March 10 will launch Lanyue uncrewed, including a descent to the Moon and a return to orbit. A 2029 mission will launch both vehicles uncrewed and dock them in lunar orbit before the crewed attempt.

## No Apollo 8 first

One gap stands out. Ars noted that the plan, for now, omits an Apollo 8- or Artemis II-style flight in which a crew goes to the Moon and returns without landing. Mengzhou is still expected to carry astronauts to the Tiangong space station in Earth orbit before then.

Wang said the program's design philosophy is to verify as much as possible in low Earth orbit and to fly each vehicle uncrewed first, according to CCTV reporting summarized by Xenospectrum. Both principles carry the qualifier "as far as possible," so not every phase will be rehearsed in advance.

Xinhua said development of the rocket, spacecraft and lander is "progressing smoothly," and listed tests already completed. They include Mengzhou's zero-height and maximum-dynamic-pressure abort tests, a Lanyue landing and takeoff test, and a low-altitude flight of the Long March 10 test vehicle.

![Long March 10 test vehicle with the Mengzhou spacecraft atop it lifting off from its launch tower at Wenchang](https://engineerpal.com/content/images/2026/11/china-long-march-10-abort-test.jpg)

A Long March 10 test vehicle carrying a Mengzhou test spacecraft lifts off from Wenchang during the Feb. 11 abort test. Image: China News Service via [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mengzhou%5Fmax-Q%5Fabort%5Ftest%5F03.png?ref=engineerpal.com) (CC BY 4.0)

The abort and rocket tests flew together on Feb. 11 from the Wenchang launch site in Hainan. In August 2025, China tested a 26-ton Lanyue mock-up near Beijing, using tethers to simulate lunar gravity as it landed and lifted off, Ars reported. The Mengzhou spacecraft for the 2027 flight has also arrived at Wenchang, per Ars.

![Museum models of the Long March 10 rocket and the Lanyue lunar lander side by side](https://engineerpal.com/content/images/2026/11/china-long-march-10-lanyue-models.jpg)

Museum models of the Long March 10 rocket (left) and the Lanyue lander (right) at the National Museum of China in Beijing. These are display models, not flight hardware. Photos: Shujianyang via [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Long%5FMarch%5F10?ref=engineerpal.com) (CC0)

## The race with NASA

China is aiming to land before the United States returns. NASA has targeted a landing by 2028, roughly a year ahead of China, according to Ars. The question mark there is the lander: SpaceX and Blue Origin both hold development contracts, and a US landing could slip to 2030 or later, Ars said.

Wang said China's advantage is a system for mobilizing resources nationwide, and that the lander and spacecraft are being developed separately to support a long-term family of vehicles.

The first flight to watch is the early 2027 Long March 10A launch. Until the Long March 10 and its spacecraft have flown, the 2028 and 2029 dates remain targets.