China is preparing to launch a satellite to transmit communications to and from the moon. Queqiao 2 (Forty Bridges 2) will be launched early next year and will be used to support China’s future robotic lunar missions. Chang’e 6, 7 and 8.

Chang’e 6 will collect first samples from the far side of the Moon, which will never return to Earth. Queqiao 2, like its predecessor Queqiao for duty Change 4It will be used to ping communications between Earth-based teams and spacecraft on the far side of the Moon.

Chang’e 6 is scheduled to launch in May next year, according to officials at the China National Space Day event last week. This means Queqiao 2 should launch in early 2024 to ensure it is in place before Chang’e reaches 6 Moons.

The new communications satellite will play a similar role to support missions. Change 7 And Chang’e 8 To the Moon’s south pole, scheduled for 2026 and 2028. The second will test bricks for 3D printing from the lunar regolith. It will form the basis of a larger plan known as the Missions. International Lunar Research Station, It will be built in the 2030s.

Queqiao 2 will also be launched with a pair of small experimental communications and navigation satellites called Tiandu 1 and Tiandu 2. The satellite’s name comes from the main peak of the famous Huangshan Mountain in Anhui Province.

Tiandu 1 and Tiandu 2 will be used to test and validate projects for the wider Queqiao constellation for lunar communications and navigation. NASA and the European Space Agency are also developing their own spacecraft. moon infrastructure for support Artemis programs. Queqiao, or Bridge of Forty, refers to a Chinese folk tale where two lovers reunite once a year when a flock of magpies forms a bridge across the Milky Way.