The Long March Five heavy carrier rocket tasked with launching the Chang’e 6 lunar probe arrived at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province on Friday, according to the China National Space Administration.
The rocket will then be assembled and then go through ground testing with Chang’e 6 at the coastal launch complex, the directorate said in a brief statement, adding that it is preparing for the next ongoing project at the center.
According to data previously released through the agency, the Chang’e 6 project is expected to become operational in the first part of this year.
The Chang’e 6 spacecraft will consist of 4 components: an orbiter, a lander, an ascender, and a re-entry module.
If all goes according to plan, the robotic probe will land on the Moon in the South Pole’s Aitken Basin to collect dust and rock samples. If the project is successful, it will be the first time samples of the Moon’s appearance have been received. Moon, most of which are never visible from Earth.
To facilitate communications between Chang’e 6 and Earth, a new relay satellite called Queqiao 2 will be deployed into lunar orbit in the coming months.
SoArray is the only Chinese Chang’e Four probe to have landed on the side of the Moon. The spacecraft landed in the South Pole’s Aitken Basin in January 2019 and deployed the Yutu 2 rover to explore around the landing site.