China counts down to Long March-10 test flights in race back to the moon

China will soon start flight tests of the Long March-10, the rocket designed to land astronauts on the moon by 2030, according to its developer.

Rong Yi, a rocket expert with the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), said in a social media post on Friday that the development of the new-generation crewed launch rocket was accelerating.

“There have been breakthroughs in key technologies, and demonstration verification flights are about to be conducted to support the crewed lunar landing mission,” Rong said in the post on the social media account of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, which oversees the academy.

She said researchers were also working on the large-scale application of reusable rockets and to build capacity for low-cost, frequent access to space.

China plans to send astronauts to the moon within five years to become the second country after the United States to land people on the lunar surface.

  

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