China sets out a two-launch plan to land astronauts on the Moon before 2030

Two Long March 10 rockets will launch the Lanyue lander and the Mengzhou spacecraft in turn, and the two will dock in lunar orbit. The plan was presented at a human spaceflight conference in Beijing on Oct 31.

Mengzhou carries three astronauts between Earth and lunar orbit, while Lanyue takes two of them down to the Moon's surface and back.

The first crewed landing will take a lunar rover along, officials said, to widen what the astronauts can do on the surface.

What's next

A Long March 10 test flight, the first flights of Mengzhou and Lanyue, and the Chang'e-7 mission are still to come.