Overview

• China unveiled ambitious plans to establish a long-term human presence on the moon by the end of the 2020s.
• To accomplish this goal, China will launch a series of increasingly sophisticated lunar missions, including lunar surface exploration and sending astronauts to the moon.
• The timeline projects that construction of a lunar base would begin around 2026, aided by a robot tasked with producing building materials directly from lunar soil.
• The plans generated concern that China could use its capabilities to gain territory or strategic advantage on the moon, though China maintained that international cooperation is a key aspect of its space ambitions.