China’s Manned Space Programme Advances Station Application and Lunar Exploration in 2026

In 2026, China’s Manned Space Engineering Programme will further implement the arrangements of the 15th Five-Year Plan, pushing forward two key tasks — the application and development of the space station and manned lunar exploration — from a new starting point, in an effort to make greater contributions to accelerating the building of a space power. Currently, China’s space station is operating stably in orbit with sound benefits, while steady progress has been made in the research, development and construction of the lunar landing phase of the manned lunar exploration programme, achieving a number of phased breakthroughs.

Since entering the phase of space station application and development, all sectors of the programme have collaborated closely, successfully completing 6 manned spaceflights, 4 cargo supply missions and 7 spacecraft return missions. The first emergency launch was also carried out smoothly. A total of 6 astronaut crews, involving 18 person-times, have stayed in orbit for long periods, conducting 13 extravehicular activities, multiple payload extractions and several in-orbit maintenance tasks — a feat that has set a world record for the longest single extravehicular activity by astronauts. In addition, the selection of the fourth batch of reserve astronauts, including payload specialists from Hong Kong and Macao, has been completed, and the optimization and development of a low-cost cargo transportation system have been launched.

To date, 267 scientific and application projects have been deployed and implemented on China’s space station, covering fields such as space life science and human research, microgravity physics and new space technologies. A number of internationally leading application and technological achievements have been made, with some already transferred, transformed and promoted. These outcomes have significantly driven the rapid development of China’s space science and applications.

In 2026, two manned spaceflight missions and one cargo spacecraft supply mission are planned. Astronauts from Hong Kong and Macao are expected to carry out space station missions as early as this year, and one astronaut from the Shenzhou-23 crew will conduct a one-year in-orbit stay test.

Aiming to land Chinese astronauts on the moon for the first time before 2030, solid and steady progress is being made in the research, development and construction of the lunar landing phase of the manned lunar exploration programme. Up to now, the research and development of major flight products, including the Long March-10 carrier rocket, the Mengzhou manned spacecraft and the Lanyue lunar lander, have progressed smoothly. A series of large-scale tests have been completed in succession, such as the zero-altitude escape test of the Mengzhou manned spacecraft, the landing and take-off test of the Lanyue lander, the tethered ignition test of the Long March-10 carrier rocket, and the low-altitude demonstration test of the Long March-10 carrier rocket system and the maximum dynamic pressure escape flight test of the Mengzhou manned spacecraft system.

In 2026, full efforts will be made to advance the construction of supporting facilities and equipment related to the lunar landing mission at the Wenchang Space Launch Center, as well as the construction of various ground support systems including measurement and control communication and landing sites.

All modules of China’s Manned Space Engineering Programme, including the space station modules, manned spacecraft, cargo spacecraft and relay satellites, as well as the Long March series of carrier rockets used to launch these spacecraft, are developed under the overall responsibility of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. Relevant units affiliated to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation are also involved in other subsystems of the programme.