China merges lunar programmes as race to moon with US heats up after latest SpaceX launchThe country releases further details about how it is ‘combining experiences and expertise’ from its crewed and uncrewed lunar missions2-MIN READ2-MIN1ListenPublished: 12:00am, 25 May 2026Updated: 1:13am, 25 May 2026As the race to send humans back to the moon heats up, China has been fine-tuning its plans.On Saturday – the day after the US company SpaceX successfully launched its largest and most powerful Starship – the China Manned Space Agency unveiled further details about its plans to integrate its crewed and uncrewed lunar landing programmes into a single mission.The purpose was “to fully leverage the technical foundations and practical experience accumulated over decades through crewed space programmes and the Chang’e lunar exploration missions”, agency spokesman Zhang Jingbo told a press conference at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre.Select VoiceSelect Speed0.8x0.9x1.0x1.1x1.2x1.5x1.75x00:0000:001.00x
SRCSouth China Morning Post
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SUN · 2026-05-24 · 16:00 GMTBRIEF NSR-2026-0524-78873
NSR-2026-0524-78873·
China merges lunar programmes as race to moon with US heats up after latest SpaceX launch
As the race to send humans back to the moon heats up, China has been fine-tuning its plans. On Saturday – the day after the US company SpaceX successfully launched its largest and most powerful Starship – the China Manned Space Agency unveiled further details about its plans to integrate its crewed
Holly ChikSouth China Morning PostFiled 2026-05-24 · 16:00 GMTRead · 1 min
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