"Reaching the moon in nine days" has been a long-cherished wish of the Chinese nation for thousands of years. With the advancement of technology, this dream is gradually becoming a reality. With the successful completion of the Chang'e-6 mission, China plans to establish a "Lunar Beidou" navigation system consisting of 21 satellites in the future to help China's space exploration of the moon more safely and efficiently. So, what exactly is going on with this "Moon Beidou" program? Why is China building the "Moon Beidou" navigation system? What are the strategic considerations?
China's lunar exploration program began in 2004 and is divided into three phases: orbiting, landing and returning. In the past two decades, China has made remarkable achievements in lunar exploration, and has gradually made a leap from scratch to excellence. On October 24, 2007, Chang'e-1 was successfully launched, opening the prelude to China's lunar exploration program. Chang'e-1 successfully entered the lunar orbit, completed an all-round exploration of the moon, and obtained a large amount of scientific data, laying a solid foundation for subsequent missions. Chang'e-2 was successfully launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on October 1, 2010, and entered lunar orbit on October 9, 2010. As the backup satellite of Chang'e-1, Chang'e-2 has made a number of technical improvements and innovations, and undertook the task of technical verification for Chang'e-3 to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface. On December 14, 2013, Chang'e-3 successfully achieved China's first soft landing on the moon and released the Yutu lunar rover. This is a major milestone in China's space history, marking China as the third country in the world to achieve a soft landing on the moon. Chang'e-3 and Yutu have carried out a number of scientific explorations on the surface of the moon and achieved rich scientific results.
Chang'e-4 was successfully launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on December 8, 2018, and successfully landed on the far side of the Moon on January 3, 2019 at the Von · Kármán Impact Crater. This is the first time that mankind has achieved a soft landing on the far side of the moon, marking a major breakthrough in the field of lunar exploration by China. On November 24, 2020, Chang'e-5 was successfully launched, and on December 17, 2020, it returned to Earth with lunar samples. This is China's first lunar sample return mission, marking another major breakthrough in China's lunar exploration program. The Chang'e-5 mission not only obtained valuable lunar samples, but also verified a number of key technologies, providing important experience for future lunar exploration missions. On June 25, 2024, Chang'e-6 successfully completed the world's first sample return mission from the far side of the Moon. The success of this mission not only further enriches mankind's understanding of the moon, but also demonstrates China's leading position in the field of lunar exploration. The successful completion of the Chang'e-6 mission marks a new step in China's lunar exploration program and lays a solid foundation for future lunar exploration and base construction.
China has made remarkable achievements in lunar exploration, with a series of missions from Chang'e-1 to Chang'e-6 not only enhancing China's space capabilities, but also making important contributions to global lunar scientific research. With the deepening and complexity of lunar exploration missions, traditional ground control and navigation methods have been difficult to meet the needs of more complex and longer lunar exploration in the future. Therefore, the construction of a navigation system exclusive to the moon - "Lunar Beidou" has become an inevitable choice for the development of China's lunar exploration program. In lunar exploration missions, the safe landing and precise navigation of spacecraft are crucial. The terrain on the surface of the moon is complex and varied, with a large number of craters, mountains, and rocks, which poses a great challenge for spacecraft to land and move. Without a precise navigation and positioning system, spacecraft can easily deviate from their intended orbit, become disoriented, or even hit obstacles when performing tasks on the lunar surface.
Through the "Lunar Beidou" navigation system, the spacecraft can receive continuous and stable navigation signals to ensure that it can accurately land at a predetermined location and move safely on the lunar surface, greatly improving the safety and success rate of the mission. The "Moon Beidou" navigation system can not only ensure the safety of spacecraft, but also significantly improve the efficiency of scientific exploration. When conducting scientific experiments and resource exploration on the lunar surface, accurate positioning information can help scientists better plan the exploration path and experimental sites, and avoid repeated exploration and waste of resources. In addition, the navigation system can also support lunar rovers and other exploration equipment to conduct more extensive and detailed scientific surveys on the lunar surface, collect more valuable data, and promote the in-depth development of lunar scientific research. The establishment of a lunar base is one of the long-term goals of human exploration of the moon, and a stable and reliable navigation system is the key infrastructure for the construction of the lunar base. The construction of a lunar base requires precise positioning and navigation support to ensure that building materials and equipment can be accurately delivered to the designated location and that efficient and safe construction takes place during construction.
In the future, the operation and maintenance of the lunar base will also be inseparable from the support of navigation systems. Whether it is the daily activities of personnel, the transportation of materials, or the development of scientific experiments, navigation systems are needed to provide accurate location information and navigation services. Not only that, the surface of the moon contains rich mineral resources and potential energy resources, and the development and utilization of these resources are inseparable from efficient navigation and positioning systems. Through the "Moon Beidou" navigation system, the resource distribution area can be accurately located, the best development path can be planned, and the efficiency and safety of resource development can be ensured. At the same time, the navigation system can also support the transportation and processing of resources, forming a complete system for the development and utilization of lunar resources. In the field of increasingly fierce international competition, the existence of autonomous navigation systems is an important means to ensure the autonomy of the national space strategy. Having its own lunar navigation system means that China no longer relies on technical support from other countries in lunar exploration and future lunar development, ensuring that its national strategic interests are not constrained by external factors.
The "Moon Beidou" navigation system not only serves China's own lunar exploration mission, but also provides navigation services for other countries and international organizations. Through the sharing of navigation data and technical support, we will promote international space cooperation and enhance China's status and influence in the international space field. As an important participant in global lunar exploration, China can play a leading role in the formulation of international lunar exploration standards and norms through the construction of the "Lunar Beidou" system. Promoting the formulation of international standards and the unification of technical specifications will help enhance China's voice in the global aerospace field. Up to now, China has completed the preliminary demonstration and technical pre-research of the "Lunar Beidou" navigation system. On the basis of preliminary demonstration, China has started to tackle key problems. These key technologies include high-precision navigation signal processing, anti-jamming technology, and long-life satellite design. Through multidisciplinary and multi-field collaborative research, the project team has made important breakthroughs in some key technologies.
In the next few years, China plans to launch a number of test satellites to verify the technical feasibility and system performance of the "Moon Beidou" navigation system. These test satellites will be deployed in different lunar orbits to further refine and optimize the navigation system design through practical testing. It is expected that by 2030, all 21 navigation satellites will be launched, forming a complete navigation constellation. The construction of the "Moon Beidou" navigation system is an important step for China's space industry to reach a new height. It is not only to realize the long-cherished wish of the Chinese nation to "go to the moon in nine days", but also to occupy a favorable position in the international space competition and promote scientific and technological innovation and industrial upgrading. It is believed that with the gradual completion of the "Moon Beidou", China's lunar exploration road will be broader and make greater contributions to mankind's exploration of the mysteries of the universe. What do you think about this? Welcome to the discussion, thank you for watching, I am exploring the universe, we will see you next time.