Fed up of planet Earth?
Good news, China has plans to put mankind on the moon.
In a statement to the public, the head of the country’s space program said the proposed lunar base could be up and running within a decade.
Zhang Kejian, top man at the China National Space Administration (CSNA), took to state news organisation Xinhua to share his belief that China will have a research station on the satellite’s south pole in “about 10 years.”
He also announced plans for China’s first probe to Mars, set to launch next year.
Details of the project are pretty vague so far, but reportedly the base will be constructed in chunks. The first part will sent to orbit the moon in 2020, arriving abroad one of China’s Long March-5B rockets.
As of yet, China has no plans to include fellow space explorers Russia, the USA or the EU in the project.
The East Asian powerhouse has increased its focus on space exploration, and currently funnels more money into spaceflight than any other country.
Earlier this year, China landed the Chang’e 4 lunar rover on the far side of the astronomical body, but previous projects have not been so successful.
In 2018, they lost control of the Tiangong-1 space station, which crashed into the Pacific Ocean.
The 8.5 tonne artificial satellite burnt up as it re-entered our atmosphere, but China has already sent a replacement – the Tiangong-2.
The country is also said to be working on its own artificial moon. Set to launch by 2020, the second “moon” would hover over Chengdu and be bright enough to light the entire city’s streets.
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