Congratulations to China National Space Administration (CNSA) for the successful launch of Chang'e 5!

The International Astronautical Federation (IAF) is pleased to congratulate the start of a promising mission!

The Long March-5, China’s largest carrier rocket, blasted off at 4.30am Beijing time on Tuesday 24 November 2020 from Wenchang space launch centre on the island of Hainan carrying the Chang’e-5 spacecraft.

The mission aims to collect the youngest samples so far obtained from the moon and later land in Siziwang Banner, Inner Mongolia, around Dec. 15-16. Samples will then be transferred to specially developed facilities for handling, analyzing and storing the lunar material.