The names symbolize the scale and ambition of China
The Chinese space agency is making serious steps towards sending taikonauts to the moon by 2030. The agency recently released the names of the new manned spacecraft and lunar lander that will be used in this mission.
As reported in the official statement, the manned spacecraft will be called Mengzhou, which means «dream ship» in Chinese. And the lunar ship was named Lanyue, which translates as «hugging the Moon».
The titles were selected from nearly 2,000 submissions since August 2023.
According to the plan of the Chinese Space Agency, the mission to the Moon will be carried out using two Long March-10 launch vehicles. One of them will send the manned spacecraft Mengzhou into lunar orbit, and the other — Lanyue lander. They will dock with each other, allowing the astronauts to safely enter the lander and successfully land on the lunar surface.
Currently, all components of the spacecraft, lander and launch vehicle are in the preliminary model development stage. China is actively working on the technical aspects of these vehicles to ensure mission readiness by 2030.