China sets out its steps to land astronauts on the Moon before 2030, starting with a rocket test in early 2027

The stories

11 stories on this beat today.

Every story told the same way: what happened, who is involved, why it matters, how it works, the truth and the good news.

1. 01

   China sets out its steps to land astronauts on the Moon before 2030, starting with a rocket test in early 2027

   4

   missions in China's plan, the last one with a crew

   a crewed Moon landing comes last, 'before 2030' [1]

   26 tons

   the full-size model of China's Lanyue lander tested near Beijing

   it landed and lifted off in August 2025, with ropes copying the Moon's weaker pull [1]

   2028

   NASA's own target for landing astronauts

   both US landers are unfinished, and a US landing could slip to 2030 or later [1]

   What happened

   • China says it plans to land astronauts on the Moon within three years. [1] Officials set out the steps at a conference in Beijing this weekend. [1]
   • The plan has 4 missions: 3 tests with nobody aboard, then 1 with a crew. [1] One test is a full practice landing, SpaceNews reports. [2]
   • First, in early 2027, a Long March 10A takes an empty Mengzhou into orbit around Earth. [1]
   • In 2028 a bigger Long March 10 takes Lanyue to the Moon to land and lift off, uncrewed. [1]
   • In 2029 two Long March 10 rockets launch the two craft. [1] They then join up in orbit around the Moon. [1]
   • The last step repeats that with a crew aboard Mengzhou, and lands 'before 2030'. [1]
   • The plan has no crewed trip around the Moon before the landing. [1] NASA's Artemis II made that kind of trip in April 2026. [3]
   • Mengzhou will still carry crews closer to home. [1] It is meant to fly them to Tiangong, China's space station. [1]

   Who is involved

   Wang Xiang, chief designer of China's Moon exploration programme, was among the officials who presented it. [1]

   Mengzhou is China's crew ship for the Moon, and Lanyue is its Moon lander. [1]

   The Long March 10 is the rocket that will carry them. [1] A smaller version, the Long March 10A, has no side boosters. [1]

   NASA's head, Jared Isaacman, said last week: 'We have the mandate, we have the resources'. [1]

   • Wang Xiang chief designer of China's Moon exploration programme; he presented the landing plan in Beijing
   • China Manned Space Agency the agency that runs China's crewed spaceflight; it tested a full-size Lanyue model in 2025
   • Jared Isaacman head of NASA, the US space agency; he cut the Gateway Moon station and aims to land in 2028

   How it unfolded

   In August 2025 China tested a full-size, 26-ton model of Lanyue near Beijing. [1] Huge ropes held part of its weight, to copy the Moon's weaker pull. [1]

   On 11 February 2026 a Long March 10 test stage lifted off carrying a Mengzhou craft. [2]

   The Mengzhou for the 2027 test has already reached the Wenchang launch site, on China's Hainan island. [1]

   1. Early 2027 Mengzhou's first test flight, on a Long March 10A [1]
   2. 2028 Lanyue lands, no crew
   3. 2029 the two craft dock at the Moon
   4. Before 2030 a crew lands on the Moon, if the plan holds [1]
   5. Aug 2025 a 26-ton Lanyue model lands and lifts off on a test site near Beijing [1]
   6. 11 Feb 2026 a Long March 10 test stage lifts off with a Mengzhou craft [2]
   7. This weekend officials set out the landing plan at a conference in Beijing [1]

   Why it matters

   The plan gives outsiders dates to judge China's progress against, Ars Technica says. [1]

   NASA aims to land astronauts in 2028, about a year ahead of China's target. [1]

   NASA's Artemis III flies in 2027 but stays near Earth, docking with test landers. [3] Artemis IV, in 2028, is meant to land. [3]

   Both US landers, from SpaceX and Blue Origin, are unfinished. [1] Ars Technica says a US landing could slip to 2030 or later. [1]

   How it works

   Engineers call China's method lunar-orbit rendezvous: two craft meet and join in orbit around the Moon. [1] NASA's Apollo used it in the 1960s and 1970s. [1]

   China has no rocket as strong as Apollo's Saturn V. [1] So one Long March 10 lifts the crew ship and a second lifts the lander. [1]

   Seen it before

   When one bag is too heavy, two people carry half each and meet at the door.

   The truth

   • What is really going on China has now published dates for each step to the Moon: a crew-ship test in early 2027, an empty lander on the Moon in 2028 and astronauts before 2030. [1]NASA's target is 2028, but both of its landers are unfinished, and Ars Technica says a US landing could slip to 2030 or later. [1]
   • Why it works on people A list of dated steps sounds like progress already made, but only the first test, in early 2027, will show whether the dates hold. [1]
   • The detailed timeline reached the public through slides shared on social media, Ars Technica reports. [1]
   • Who gains NASA's leadership under Jared Isaacman — As US lawmakers took China's threat seriously, the US Congress and the White House gave him broad freedom to reshape the Moon programme. [1]
   • Who pays Teams that were building the Gateway — Isaacman cancelled the planned station that was to circle the Moon. [1]
   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether China's dates will hold.

     Outsiders can hardly check China's milestones, because its programme is largely closed, Ars Technica says. [1]

   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether the first astronauts back on the Moon will be American or Chinese.

     Both sides' dates rest on landers that have not flown in space: SpaceX's and Blue Origin's for NASA, and Lanyue for China. [1]

   What comes next

   The first check is early 2027, when Mengzhou flies on a Long March 10A from Wenchang. [1]

1. 02

   Rocket Lab's 99th launch lifts a radar satellite

   What happened

   • Rocket Lab launched its 99th mission on Monday, from its site in New Zealand. [4] It carried a radar satellite for iQPS, a Japanese company. [4]
   • The small Electron rocket lifted off at 16:41 GMT from the Mahia Peninsula. [5] The satellite is called QPS-SAR-20. [5]
   • Rocket Lab released it 575 km up, about 56 minutes after launch. [4]
   • It was Rocket Lab's 10th launch for iQPS. [4] iQPS is building a fleet of about three dozen radar satellites. [4]
   • Electron has now flown 90 times, 17 of them this year. [4]

   Why it matters

   Radar satellites can see through cloud, and at night as well as by day. [4]

   How it works

   Launch firms call it a dedicated ride: a whole rocket for one customer's satellite. [4] Electron is built to give small satellites that kind of ride. [4]

   So the rocket flew one satellite to one height, 575 km, and released it there. [4]

   Seen it before

   A taxi takes you straight to your door, while a bus stops where everyone else wants to go.

   Why a radar satellite can see at night and through cloud

   An ordinary camera in orbit needs sunlight bouncing off the ground, but a radar sends its own radio pulses and times their echoes, so darkness and cloud do not stop it.

   The twist

   What a satellite can see depends on where its light comes from: the Sun, the ground's own warmth, or a pulse the satellite sends out itself.

   The picture

   Ordinary camerasunlight

   ++

   Heat cameraground's warmth

   ++

   Radarits own pulses

   Step by step

   1. 1 A camera in orbit only records light that reaches it
   2. 2 By day that light is mostly sunlight bouncing off the ground
   3. 3 At night, or under thick cloud, little of it gets back to space
   4. 4 A heat camera reads the warmth the ground gives off itself, day and night
   5. 5 A radar sends out its own radio pulses and times their echoes
   6. 6 Radio waves pass through cloud, so a radar sees in any weather

   The same force, elsewhere today

   Where this chain is also running, in today's other stories.

   • Rocket Lab's 99th launch

     QPS-SAR-20 is a radar satellite: it sends its own pulses, so it can see through cloud and at night.

   • Hydrosat's sharper heat camera

     Nyktos reads the warmth the ground gives off, so it needs no sunlight and works 24 hours a day.

   • Webb's look at comet 3I/ATLAS

     Webb needs no pulse of its own: it reads sunlight bouncing off the ice, and the colours the ice soaked up.

   • Venus, the Moon and Spica at dawn

     The Moon's dark part shows only because Earth bounces sunlight onto it, a second-hand light source.

   Where you've seen this

   Bats

   they shout and listen for the echo, so they fly in total darkness

   Firefighters

   heat cameras find people through smoke by the warmth their bodies give off

   Hospital scans

   an ultrasound sends sound into the body and builds a picture from the echoes

   Speed cameras

   a radar gun times its own radio echo off a car to measure its speed

   The catch

   Sending your own signal costs power, and a radar picture shows shape and roughness, not colour, so it adds to an ordinary camera rather than replacing it.

   And the whole of it

   A flood map, a crop map or a war map on the news may come from a satellite that never saw the ground in ordinary light. The person looking at the map sees fields and roads, not whether sunlight, heat or radar echoes drew them.

   The truth

   • Who gains iQPS, the Japanese radar company — Each Electron launch puts one more satellite into its planned fleet of about three dozen. [4]

   Good news

   • All 10 of Rocket Lab's launches for iQPS have reached orbit, the company said. [5]

1. 03

   Northwood Space raises $375 million

   What happened

   • Northwood Space said on 2 November that it had raised $375 million from investors. [7] The deal values the company at $2 billion. [6]
   • Northwood builds ground stations: dishes on the ground that send and receive satellite signals. [6] It wants the world's largest network of them. [6]
   • Its kit packs into shipping containers and can work hours after it arrives, Northwood says. [6]

   Who is involved

   Two investment firms, a16z and DFJ Growth, led the round. [6] Northwood has now raised more than $500 million in all. [6]

   • a16z led the round
   • DFJ Growth led the round

   How it unfolded

   Its last round, $100 million, closed less than nine months ago. [6]

   In January it won a three-year, $49.8 million contract to link US Space Force satellites. [6]

   Why it matters

   Satellite companies could rent time on shared dishes instead of building their own. [6] They book that time online, through Northwood's system. [6]

   How it works

   Radio engineers call it arraying: linking many small dishes so they work as one big one. [6]

   In a test, 10 of Northwood's small Portal dishes matched one 20-foot dish. [6]

   Seen it before

   Ten buckets left out in the rain can catch as much water as one big tub.

   The truth

   • Northwood also got a loan line from HSBC, a bank, but did not say how big it is. [6]
   • Who gains Northwood Space — Its $375 million pays for antennas at more ground stations around the world. [6]
   • Who pays The biggest ground-station networks — Northwood says it plans to reach their hundreds of sites and then pass them. [6]
2. 04

   SpaceX looks at buying Boost Mobile

   What happened

   • SpaceX has talked about a deal with Boost Mobile, a cheap US phone company, The Washington Post reported. [8]
   • SpaceX could buy Boost, or just use its network. [8] Elon Musk discussed it last month with Charlie Ergen, chairman of EchoStar, which owns Boost. [8]
   • SpaceX wants Starlink, its satellite internet, to become a 'major' phone company. [8]
   • It plans to mix satellites that reach phones directly with phone towers on the ground. [8]

   Who is involved

   • SpaceX runs Starlink
   • Boost Mobile budget phone company

   How it unfolded

   Last year SpaceX bought airwave licences from EchoStar. [8] It recently bought low-band airwaves, which could carry its signal inside buildings. [8]

   Bloomberg reported last month that SpaceX is in talks to use at least 80,000 US phone towers. [8]

   Why it matters

   A deal would let SpaceX start its own phone service through a company that already sells one. [8]

   How it works

   In telecoms, a company can sell phone service on towers it does not own. [8] Boost does this: its network runs on T-Mobile and AT&T. [8]

   So a Boost deal would not hand SpaceX towers of its own. [8] It may need permission from T-Mobile and AT&T. [8]

   Seen it before

   A shop that sells another firm's bread still needs that bakery to keep baking for it.

   The truth

   • Neither SpaceX nor Boost Mobile answered The Verge's request for comment. [8]
   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether SpaceX would buy Boost Mobile or only use its network.

     The Washington Post reported talks, neither company commented, and T-Mobile and AT&T may have to agree. [8]

3. 05

   Webb finds dusty ice on an interstellar comet

   What happened

   • The James Webb Space Telescope found that comet 3I/ATLAS is made of tiny ice grains mixed with lots of dust. [9]
   • Comets that formed around our own Sun have much cleaner ice. [9] The team published its findings on 26 October. [9]
   • Webb looked at it 3 times, from August 2025 to April 2026. [9]
   • Its ice looks like some icy worlds beyond Neptune, at the edge of our solar system. [9]

   How it unfolded

   3I/ATLAS came from another star system and was spotted in summer 2025. [9] It is only the third, after 'Oumuamua in 2017 and Borisov in 2019. [9]

   It may have formed 10 to 12 billion years ago, more than twice the age of our solar system. [9]

   1. 2017 'Oumuamua
   2. 2019 Borisov
   3. 2025 3I/ATLAS

   Why it matters

   So planets around other stars may be built from ice grains much like ours. [9]

   How it works

   Astronomers split light into its colours to learn what it passed through, a method called spectroscopy. [9]

   Clean water ice leaves gaps at 3 wavelengths of light. [9] This comet showed only 1 of them, so its ice is mixed with dust. [9]

   Seen it before

   A red window lets only red light in, so the light inside shows what the glass is like.

   Webb needs no pulse of its own: it reads sunlight bouncing off the ice, and the colours the ice soaked up.

   The idea, in story 02: Why a radar satellite can see at night and through cloud →

   The truth

   • The dust result comes from fitting computer models to the light, not from a sample. [9]
   • Nobody knows yet

     Which star 3I/ATLAS formed around.

     It came from another star system, but nobody can trace its path back to one star. [9]

   Good news

   • The James Webb telescope watched a comet from another star system 3 times, from August 2025 to April 2026, and worked out what its ice is made of.
4. 06

   The young Moon may have helped make continents

   What happened

   • A study published on 2 November says the young Moon may have helped make Earth's first continents. [10]
   • The fast spin squashed Earth, so it bulged at the equator. [10]
   • As Earth slowed, the bulge shrank. [10] Rock at the equator was squeezed, and rock near the poles was stretched. [10]
   • Cracks let water and carbon dioxide reach deeper rock. [10] That melted it and fed volcanoes, making the light rock continents are made of. [10]

   Who is involved

   Simon Lock, a planetary scientist at the University of Bristol, wrote it. [10] It appeared in JGR: Solid Earth, a journal of Earth science. [10]

   • Simon Lock University of Bristol

   How it unfolded

   About 4.5 billion years ago, a Mars-size object hit Earth and made the Moon. [10] Afterwards Earth spun so fast a day lasted only hours. [10]

   Why it matters

   It could explain rocks like granite found from Earth's first 200 million years, Dartmouth geophysicist Manar Al Asad says. [10]

   How it works

   Geophysicists call this tidal friction: the Moon's pull raises tides that slow Earth's spin. [10]

   It still happens: the Moon moves about 4 cm farther away each year. [10] In about 200 million years a day will last 25 hours. [10]

   Seen it before

   A spinning bike wheel slows down when a brake pad keeps rubbing against it.

   The truth

   • So few rocks survive from then that the fast early spin will be hard to prove, says Rutgers' Yoshinori Miyazaki. [10]
   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether the young Earth really spun as fast as the continents study needs.

     Very few rocks survive from that time, so the fast spin is hard to test, Rutgers' Yoshinori Miyazaki says. [10]

5. 07

   Swiss start-up shows a Moon lander

   What happened

   • Stellar Alpina, a Swiss start-up, unveiled two spacecraft designs: Monarch, which flies in orbit, and Morpho, a Moon lander. [11]
   • Morpho is built to carry up to 50 kg of cargo to the Moon. [11]
   • Monarch can carry 200 kg of cargo and weighs 1,000 kg with its fuel. [11] It burns hydrogen peroxide and propane, fuels that keep for a long time. [11]

   How it unfolded

   The company began by building a new kind of rocket engine, a rotating detonation engine. [11] Neither it nor Astrobotic, a US company planning one too, has flown one yet. [11]

   Why it matters

   Europe has no scheme paying firms for Moon deliveries, unlike NASA, the company says. [11] Morpho would be a smaller partner to Argonaut, a lander from Europe's space agency. [11]

   How it works

   Mission planners measure a trip by how much a craft must change its speed, called delta-V. [11] Monarch is built for 6,000 m/s of it. [11]

   A small European rocket could drop Monarch in a low orbit. [11] Its own engine could then lift it to GEO, a high orbit, the company says. [11]

   Seen it before

   A bus leaves you at the edge of town, and your bike takes you the rest of the way.

   The truth

   • Nothing has flown yet: the company has run more than 150 engine tests on the ground. [11]
   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether a rotating detonation engine will work in space.

     Stellar Alpina and Astrobotic both plan to use one, and neither has flown one yet. [11]

   What comes next

   It aims to test Monarch in orbit by 2029. [11]

   Next it is building an engine cooled by water, so the engine does not melt itself. [11]

6. 08

   Hydrosat plans a sharper heat camera

   What happened

   • Hydrosat, a satellite company, unveiled Nyktos, a plan for sharper heat-sensing cameras in orbit. [12]
   • Nyktos is a thermal camera: it sees heat, not ordinary light. [12] Unlike ordinary cameras in orbit, thermal ones can take pictures 24 hours a day. [12]
   • Its other planned fleet, Osiris, photographs a strip 340 km wide on every pass, in less detail. [12]
   • Hydrosat is bidding for a contract with the government of Greece. [12] It plans a new factory in Europe, with cameras from 2028. [12]

   How it unfolded

   1. Next year a European factory could open
   2. 2028 first Nyktos cameras

   Why it matters

   European governments want heat images, which let armies watch war zones in the dark. [12]

   How it works

   Satellite operators call it tip and cue: a wide camera spots a change, and a sharp one looks closer. [12]

   Here Osiris would be the wide camera, and Nyktos the sharp one. [12]

   Seen it before

   A lifeguard scans the whole pool, then walks over to look closely at one swimmer.

   Nyktos reads the warmth the ground gives off, so it needs no sunlight and works 24 hours a day.

   The idea, in story 02: Why a radar satellite can see at night and through cloud →

   The truth

   • Its chief, Pieter Fossel, would not say how sharp Nyktos will be. [12] SatVu, a rival, already sells heat images showing things 3.5 metres across. [12]
   • Who gains European government buyers of heat images — Hydrosat plans to build its cameras in Europe with European suppliers, to meet their demand that defence work stays in the region. [12]
   • Who pays SatVu, a heat-image company — Hydrosat says Nyktos is built to compete with SatVu's images for the same government buyers. [12]
   • Nobody knows yet

     How sharp Hydrosat's Nyktos camera will be.

     Its chief would only say it will compete with rivals, and Hydrosat has not yet chosen where to build it. [12]

7. 09

   Smithsonian opens its last space gallery

   What happened

   • The National Air and Space Museum in Washington opened 'At Home in Space' on 30 October. [13] It is its last new spaceflight gallery. [13]
   • It ends a 7-year renovation costing nearly $1 billion at the Smithsonian museum. [13]
   • The gallery tells how people learned to live in space, ending with the International Space Station. [13]
   • It shows a full, flown NASA spacesuit for spacewalks, a first on public display, the curator says. [13]
   • It also shows pieces of the shuttles Challenger and Columbia, both lost with their crews. [13]
   • Visitors can walk through a full-size copy of the station's Destiny lab, and even smell what the station smells like. [13]

   Why it matters

   The public can once again visit the whole museum, its director, Chris Browne, said. [13]

   How it works

   Engineers call it modular design: a suit built from parts that swap. [13] So one suit fits astronauts of different sizes, unlike Apollo suits made for each person. [13]

   Seen it before

   A bike with an adjustable seat fits a whole family, not just one rider.

   Good news

   • Entry to every gallery is free, though a timed pass is needed. [13]

   What comes next

   A space waits for the Artemis I capsule, which flew to the Moon with nobody aboard in 2022. [13]

8. 10

   Venus, the Moon and Spica meet at dawn

   What happened

   • Venus, a thin crescent Moon and the star Spica gather low in the east before dawn this week. [14]
   • On 7 November the three sit close together, with only 4% of the Moon's face lit. [14]
   • Venus will be the easiest of the three to spot. [14] Spica, the brightest star in the Virgo constellation, is about 250 light years away. [14]
   • The group can be seen from both halves of the world, and sits higher for people in the south. [14]

   Why it matters

   The three sit low above the horizon, so seeing them needs a clear eastern sky before sunrise. [14]

   How it works

   Astronomers call it earthshine: the dark part of the Moon glows faintly. [14] Sunlight bounces off Earth onto it, and back to our eyes. [14]

   Seen it before

   A dark room still shows its shapes when light bounces in off a white wall outside.

   The Moon's dark part shows only because Earth bounces sunlight onto it, a second-hand light source.

   The idea, in story 02: Why a radar satellite can see at night and through cloud →
9. 11

   Eight rockets lined up for this week

   What happened

   • Eight rocket launches are planned this week, from the US, China, New Zealand and South Korea, NASASpaceflight reports. [5]
   • Galactic Energy, a Chinese rocket company, plans to fly its Ceres 2 on 6 November. [5] Its first flight, in January, failed. [5]
   • South Korea's Mir rocket was set for its second flight on 4 November, from an offshore platform at Jeju Island. [5]
   • Mir burns solid fuel and can lift 500 kg to low orbit. [5]
   • SpaceX plans two Falcon 9 launches of secret US Space Force satellites, on 4 and 8 November, California time. [5]
   • China's Kinetica 2 was set to launch early on 3 November, carrying communications satellites for SpaceSail, a Chinese network. [5]

   How it unfolded

   1. January Ceres 2's first flight fails
   2. 6 Nov it tries again

   Why it matters

   A Long March 12 is due to carry 9 more for SatNet, a second Chinese network. [5] Both launches add satellites to Chinese networks in low orbit. [5]

   How it works

   Rocket teams call the first flight after a failure a return to flight. [5] Ceres 2's flight on Friday is that test. [5]

   Seen it before

   A rider who falls off gets back on the bike, and the next ride shows whether the fix worked.

   The truth

   • What the two Space Force satellites will do has not been made public. [5]