China Plans First Crewed Moon Landing by 2030

What’s new: China aims to land its astronauts on the moon for the first time by 2030, the China Manned Space Engineering Office announced Monday, as the country seeks to strengthen its presence in the space race with other major powers.

Alongside this objective, the country has set 2030 targets to master key technologies such as crewed round-trip travel between Earth and the moon, short-term habitation on the lunar surface, and joint human-machine exploration, the office’s deputy director Lin Xiqiang said at a press conference.