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The launch by China of an unequipped spacecraft intended to bring back lunar rocks underlines how far the country has progressed in the realization of its “space dream”.
Beijing has invested billions of dollars in its military-run space program in hopes of having a manned space station by 2022 and possibly sending humans to the moon.
Here’s a look at China’s space efforts over the decades:
Mao’s commitment
Shortly after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957, Chairman Mao Zedong said, “We too will make satellites.”
It took more than 10 years, but in 1970 the first Chinese satellite lifted off into space on the back of a Long March rocket.
Human spaceflight took decades longer, with Yang Liwei becoming the first Chinese astronaut to enter space in 2003.
As the launch neared, concerns over the viability of the mission led Beijing to cancel a nationwide live TV show at the last minute.
Despite fears, the launch went smoothly, with Yang orbiting Earth 14 times during his 21-hour flight aboard the Shenzhou 5.
Since then, China has sent men and women into space with increasing regularity.
Flames and exhaust trail behind a Long March-5 rocket carrying the Chang’e 5 lunar mission after take-off [Mark Schiefelbein/AP]Space station
Following in the footsteps of the United States and Russia, China is working to open a space station encircling our planet.
The Tiangong-1 was put into orbit in September 2011.
In 2016, China launched its second station, the Tiangong-2 Laboratory orbiting 393 km (244 miles) above Earth, in what analysts say it will likely serve as the last element before China does launch a crewed space station.
Astronauts who visited the station conducted experiments on growing rice and other plants, as well as docking spacecraft.
‘Space dream’
Under President Xi Jinping, China’s “space dream” plans, as he calls it, have been damaged.
The new superpower is finally seeking to catch up with the United States and Russia after years of belatedly catching up on their space milestones.
Ambitions begin with a clean space station – China has been deliberately left out of the International Space Station effort – with parts assembly in space slated to begin this year and crewed use slated to begin in 2022 .
China is also planning to build a base on the moon, with the country aiming to establish a lunar mission by 2029.
But lunar work suffered a setback in 2017 when the Long March-5 Y2, a powerful heavy-lift rocket, failed to embark on a mission to send communications satellites into orbit.
The failure forced the postponement of the launch of Chang’e-5, which was originally scheduled to collect lunar samples in the second half of 2017.
Another robot, the Chang’e-4, landed on the other side of the moon in January 2019 – a historic first.
Chinese astronauts and scientists have also spoken of manned missions to Mars as Beijing strives to become a global space power.
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