Long March 8 | Queqiao-2
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation launched a Long March 8 rocket from 201 carrying Queqiao-2 to Lunar Orbit on 20 Mar 2024, 00:31 UTC. Outcome: Launch Successful.
SuccessLaunch Successful
About the mission
Queqiao-2 is a Chinese artificial satellite to serve as a communications relay for future Chinese lunar far side missions that cannot communicate directly with the Earth, beginning with the Chang'e 6 lunar sample return mission in 2024. It will operate from a Distant Retrograde Orbit (DRO) of the Moon. The launch also carries the Tiandu-1 & 2 small satellites testing cis-lunar space navigation and inter-satellite communication techniques for CNSA’s Deep Space Exploration Laboratory (DSEL).