‘Did not meet launch conditions’: China’s unmanned moon mission delayed last minute
China has postponed the planned launch of its Chang’e-7 Moon mission, days after saying the launch site and equipment were in good condition.The probe and the Long March 5 rocket assigned to carry it had already been transferred to the takeoff area at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in southern Hainan province last week. As of Wednesday, inspections were still due to be carried out and the agency said the launch was “scheduled for the coming period”.On Sunday, China’s manned space agency said a “comprehensive assessment” had found that the mission “does not meet launch conditions and cannot take place during the planned window this year”. It did not identify which conditions had not been met or say when the mission could be rescheduled. Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported the announcement.Chang’e-7 is designed to search for water at the Moon’s south pole. Media reports had indicated that it could lift off either over the weekend or on Monday.The agency said the postponement was “based on the principle of prudence, reliability and absolute mission success”. It provided no further details behind the decision.The delay also comes just under two weeks after a rare launch failure from Wenchang. Media reports showed a rocket launched from the Hainan site exploding as crowds watched a fiery ball in the sky.State news agency Xinhua said the failed mission used a Long March 7A carrier rocket that had taken off from the Wenchang Space Launch Site. The rocket was carrying the Zhongxing-4B communications satellite when an “anomaly” occurred during flight.Xinhua said the cause of the failure remained under investigation.The two developments come as Beijing continues to expand its space programme, into which it has invested billions of dollars in recent years. President Xi Jinping has described the country’s ambitions in space as its “space dream”.China also successfully landed a reusable rocket for the first time in July, according to its space agency. The milestone represented an advance in China’s space programme, including its efforts to reduce launch costs.Chang’e-7 forms part of China’s wider push to put astronauts on the Moon before 2030. The United States is competing in the same race through its Artemis programme.
