BEIJING – China on Monday announced the successful launch of a lunarcommunications relay satellite designed to support an unprecedented missionto put a lander and rover on the far side of the moon by late 2018.
The launch includes an optical camera developed by Saudi Arabia, as part ofan agreement between King Abdulaziz City of Science and Technology and theChina National Space Administration.
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The China-Saudi Lunar Exploration Cooperation Memorandum signed in 2017aims to further strengthen the China-Saudi cooperation in the field ofspace.
The Chang’e-4 mission aims to provide a means of communications for settingdown and operating a lunar lander and rover on the far side of the moon, afeat that has never been attempted.
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The launch includes an optical camera developed by Saudi Arabia.
The China-Saudi Lunar Exploration Cooperation Memorandum signed in 2017aims to further strengthen the China-Saudi cooperation in the field ofspace.
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Two microsatellites, Longjiang-1 and -2 (River Dragon-1 and -2), were alsoaboard the launch and will enter highly elliptical lunar orbits to performtheir astronomy tasks.
The pair will also carry out amateur radio experiments, with one will alsocarrying the small optical camera developed by Saudi Arabia.