China launches unmanned Chang’e-5 T1 technology testbed for lunar mission

China launches unmanned spacecraft | Business Line

Space launch to pave the way for lunar expedition - China News - SINA English 

Test for technology to help probe return to Earth with soil samples. China will launch an experimental spacecraft between Friday and Sunday to test a key technology designed to help a future lunar probe return to Earth with soil samples. The unnamed spacecraft is due to reach a location near the moon before returning to Earth, said a spokesman for the China National Space Administration, which announced the launch on Wednesday. It will be China's first lunar module to return to Earth, at a speed close to 11.2 km per second, space experts said.

Beijing, Oct 24:

China today launched an unmanned spacecraft to fly around the moon and back to Earth in order to test technologies to be used in the Chang’e-5, a future probe that will conduct the country’s first Moon mission with a provision to return back. The lunar orbiter was launched atop an advanced Long March-3C rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province in the early hours.

The test spacecraft separated from its carrier rocket and entered the expected orbit shortly after the lift-off, the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry  for National Defence said. The whole mission will take about eight days.

 China Launches Moon Mission to Test Key Lunar Sample Return Technologies

China launched a robotic mission to the Moon today (Oct. 23 EDT/Oct. 24 BJT) that will test a slew of key technologies required for safely delivering samples gathered from the Moon’s surface and returning them to Earth later this decade for analysis by researchers.


Today’s unmanned launch of what has been dubbed “Chang’e-5 T1” is a technology testbed serving as a precursor for China’s planned Chang’e-5 probe, a future mission  aimed at conducting China’s first lunar sample return mission in 2017.


“Chang’e-5 T1” was successfully launched atop an advanced Long March-3C rocket at 2 AM Beijing local time (BJT), 1800 GMT, from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China’s southwestern Sichuan Province.

China's First Lunar Return Mission A Stunning Success