China's Robot Moon Base Transforms the Future of Space

China has officially entered the 21st-century space race, with ambitious plans to build a robotic moon base and launch probes as well.



And that's only a small part of the nation's plans to ramp up its studies of space, both lunar and beyond.

China will take its time to carefully establish its moon base—the mission would likely get underway in 2030, with the launch of rocket carrying a 100-ton payload for the project. However, China will pay a visit to the moon in 2018, as it sends the Chang'e-4 lunar probe up to take a look around.

According to NASA , the Chang'e-4 Farside Lander will be a rover mission, whose launch will be preceded by a June 2018 launch of a communication relay satellite whose purpose would be to provide contact with the Chang'e-4 when it's working the far side of the moon.





2019 is the scheduled year for the Chang'e-5 mission, which the Chinese National Space Administration CNSA ) will send up to collect a sample of lunar regolith from beneath the surface, which will be returned to Earth for study.





