Chang'e 6 is a lunar lander and sample return mission targeting the far side of the Moon within the South Pole Aitken Basin. Like its predecessors, the spacecraft is named after the Chinese moon goddess Chang'e.

The spacecraft comprises four modules, a service module, lander, ascent vehicle, and reentry capsule, and has a launch mass of 8200 kg and a landed mass of roughly 3200 kg.

The mission objective is to collect about 2 kg of material from the far side of the Moon and bring it back to Earth. The lander, with attached ascent vehicle, will separate from the orbiter and descend to the surface. It will use a scoop and a drill, in order to obtain samples from the surface and from as deep as 2 meters below the surface.

The samples will be placed in the ascent vehicle, mounted on top of the lander, which will bring the samples to lunar orbit. Then, the samples will be transferred to an orbiting service module, placed in a reentry capsule and brought back to Earth.

The mission has essentially the same architecture as Chang'e 5, with some changes in the payload payload. The spacecraft has a total mass of approximately 8200 kg. Propulsion for braking into lunar orbit is provided by a 3000 N rocket. Power is provided by solar panels.

Chang'e 5 carries a robotic arm with a sampling scoop, a coring drill, and a sample chamber. The ascender vehicle uses a 3000 N thrust booster to lift off from the lunar surface. Chang'e 6 will have landing and survey cameras, and will be carrying an instrument from France, Detection of Outgassing RadoN (DORN), as well as Negative Ions at the Lunar Surface (NILS), contributed by Sweden and ESA. A laser retroreflector (INRRI) from Italy and the ICUBE-Q cubesat from Pakistan will also be on the mission.

The lander will use the Queqiao-2 relay satellite to communicate with Earth from the far side.

The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program is designed to be conducted in four phases of incremental technological advancement: The first is reaching lunar orbit, completed by Chang'e 1 in 2007 and Chang'e 2 in 2010. The second is landing and roving on the Moon, as Chang'e 3 did in 2013 and Chang'e 4 did in 2019. The third is collecting lunar samples from the near-side and sending them to Earth, completed by Chang'e 5 in 2020 and planned for the Chang'e 6 mission. The fourth phase consists of development of a robotic research station near the Moon's south pole.

The program aims to facilitate a crewed lunar landing in the 2030s and possibly build an outpost near the lunar south pole.

In October 2018, Chinese officials announced that they will call for international partners to propose an additional payload up to 10 kg (22 lb) to be included in this mission. In November 2022 it was announced that the mission would carry payloads from four international partners:

A French instrument called DORN (Detection of Outgassing Radon) to study the transport of lunar dust and other volatiles between the lunar regolith and the lunar exosphere, including the water cycle.

An Italian instrument called INRRI (INstrument for landing-Roving laser Retroreflector Investigations) consisting in a passive laser retro-reflector to be used for laser range-finding of the lander, similar to those used on the Schiaparelli and InSight missions.

The Swedish NILS (Negative Ions on Lunar Surface), an instrument to detect and measure negative ions reflected by the lunar surface.

The Pakistani ICECUBE-Q cubesat, to detect ice traces on the lunar surface.

Caption courtesy of NASA

The Long March 5 is a Chinese heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT). It is the first Chinese launch vehicle designed to use exclusively non-hypergolic liquid propellants. It is the fifth iteration of the Long March rocket family.

Stats

Height: 56.97 m (186.9 ft)

Diameter: 5 m (16 ft)

Mass: 854,500 kg (1,883,900 lb)

Stages: 2

There are currently two CZ-5 variants: CZ-5 and CZ-5B. The maximum payload capacities are approximately 25,000 kg (55,000 lb) to low Earth orbit (for CZ-5B) and approximately 14,000 kg (31,000 lb) to geostationary transfer orbit (for CZ-5).

The Long March 5 roughly matches the capabilities of American NSSL heavy-lift launch vehicles such as the Delta IV Heavy. It is currently the most powerful member of the Long March rocket family and the world's fourth most powerful orbital launch vehicle currently in operation, trailing the Delta IV Heavy, Falcon Heavy, and the Space Launch System.

The first CZ-5 launched from Wenchang Space Launch Site on 3 November 2016 and placed its payload in a suboptimal but workable initial orbit. The second CZ-5 rocket, launched on 2 July 2017, failed due to an engine problem in the first stage.

After an interval of almost two and a half years, the Long March 5 vehicle's return to flight mission (third launch) successfully occurred on 27 December 2019 with the launch and placement of the experimental Shijian-20 communications satellite into geostationary transfer orbit, thereby paving the way for the successful launch of Tianwen 1 Mars mission, lunar Chang'e 5 sample-return mission, and the modular space station, all of which require the lifting capabilities of a heavy lift launch vehicle.

The Wenchang Space Launch Site located in Wenchang, Hainan, China, is a rocket launch site, one of the two spacecraft launch sites of Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

It is a former suborbital test center. It is China's fourth and southernmost space vehicle launch facility (spaceport). It has been specially selected for its low latitude, which is only 19° north of the equator, which will allow for an increase in payload necessary for launching China's future space station. It is capable of launching the Long March 5, currently the most powerful Chinese rocket.

The planned landing site is by the southern edge of Apollo Basin
43.0°S 154.0°W. The total mission time is 53 days.

The South Pole–Aitken basin is the darker area at the bottom of this image of the far side of the Moon.

Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio and Wikipedia.