China's dark side moon rock retrieval mission 'most anticipated of the year'

Jonathan McDowell, a Harvard astronomer who tracks rocket launches and space activities, said he was most looking forward to China's Chang'e-6 mission this year.

The Chang'e-6 mission is scheduled to launch in May to retrieve rock samples from the far side (the part of the moon that is not visible from Earth). Mr. McDowell added that no country - including the US - has been able to bring back rocks from the far side of the moon, and landing on the far side is much more difficult than on the bright side.

"Chang'e-6 is definitely the biggest challenge China is planning in the space field in 2024," he said.

The Chang'e-6 mission is one of 100 planned launches by China in 2024, aiming to retrieve rock samples from the far side of the Moon. (Photo: CCTV)

According to SCMP , China plans to carry out 100 launches to put more than 300 spacecraft into orbit by 2024 – a new record for the country and a sharp increase compared to last year.

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the country's main space contractor, revealed that it will carry out about 70 launches. The rest will be commercial launches.

The plan represents a nearly 50% increase from 2023's total of 67 launches. However, the ratio of government launches to private launches remains roughly the same, despite China's rapidly growing commercial space sector.

According to information in the CASC's annual blue book released on February 26, major missions this year will include two crewed flights and two cargo flights to the Tiangong space station in low Earth orbit.

CASC will also launch the Queqiao-2 relay satellite and the Chang'e-6 mission to retrieve rock samples from the far side of the Moon, helping China advance its lunar exploration ambitions.

Other missions include the Franco-Chinese Multi-Band Astronomical Variable Objects Observatory, the Chinese-Italian electromagnetic seismic satellite, and the recoverable space science satellite Shijian-19, among others.

One big difference between China and the US, McDowell points out, is that government rockets still play a huge role in Chinese launches, but this is no longer the case in the US.

In 2024, Texas-based SpaceX alone aims to conduct 144 orbital missions, continuing to increase its launch rate from about every four days to nearly every three days.

Another difference is the ability to reuse rockets, particularly the first stage of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. “That’s something China hasn’t done yet,” McDowell said.

The Falcon 9's first stage has been reused up to 19 times, significantly reducing launch costs. In China, only a handful of startups have conducted so-called "jump" tests, lifting and landing reusable rocket prototypes a few hundred meters in the air.

Information in the blue book said that in 2024, CASC will conduct the first flight of two new rocket models, March 6C and Long March 12, both of which are not reusable.

Private Chinese rocket launch companies such as LandSpace, Galactic Energy and Orienspace are aiming to launch their first reusable rockets by 2025.

Private companies in China have many incentives to compete for orders from central and local governments to help build large satellite constellations, including nearly 13,000 satellites in the Guo Wang national network, which is seen as a competitor to SpaceX 's Starlink, a space-based internet service that would serve both civilian and military purposes, according to SCMP.

Hua Yu (Source: SCMP)

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