China has launched Queqiao-2, a central communications satellite for planned missions to the moon. This is reported by the Chinese news agency Xinhua from the Wenchang spaceport on the southern Chinese island of Hainan. 24 minutes after launch, the satellite separated from the rocket and entered an orbit that will take it to the moon. The solar panels and antennas were then successfully opened. The relay satellite was launched with a Long March-8 Y carrier rocket.
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Multiple missions planned
Queqiao-2 is a further development of its predecessor of the same name, which was launched in 2018 as a relay for unmanned lunar missions. The satellites are necessary to maintain contact with probes that are in use on the back of the Earth's satellite. According to China's space agency, Queqiao-2 will support the Chang'e-6, Chang'e-7 and Chang'e-8 missions. The first of these is scheduled to begin in just a few weeks; Chang'e-6 will bring a soil sample from the far side of the moon to Earth for the first time. The other two are scheduled for 2026 and 2028 respectively and have the south pole of the moon as their destination.
While the landing modules of the “Chang'e” program are named after the Chinese moon goddess, “Queqiao” is translated as “Bridge of the Magpies”. This is reminiscent of an old Chinese fairy tale in which magpies spread their wings to form a bridge on the seventh night of the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar. Through this, Zhi Nu, the seventh daughter of the Queen of Heaven, can go to her beloved husband, who is separated from her by the Milky Way.
The launch of Queqiao-2 now comes in the middle of a real race to the moon. After the celestial body was of little interest for space travel for a long time, numerous missions are now planned. Many are intended to prepare for the return of humans, others are part of the increasing commercialization of space. However, the Chinese space program recently suffered a setback when the DRO-A and DRO-B satellites missed their planned orbit after launching on Wednesday last week. They supposedly had the moon as their target.
(my)