China's 1970-2024 space milestones and Chang'e-6 far-side sample return

Dongfanghong-1 launched on April 24, 1970. The Fifth Academy was established, and China's space undertaking began. Chang'e-6 launched on May 3, 2024; its recorded landing date was June 25, 2024, and its returner carried far-side lunar samples back to Earth.

Chang'e-6 launched on May 3, 2024, and its recorded landing date was June 25, 2024. Its returner carried samples from the Moon's far side back to Earth. The mission was the first to bring back samples from the lunar far side.

The returned far-side samples weighed 1,935.3 grams, and the mission carried 4 international payloads.

Sampling and encapsulation could not exceed 17 hours of effective work time and involved about 2,000 actions.

The jointly developed Pakistan CubeSat, with a whole satellite weight of 6.5 kg and a total carried weight of 9 kg, separated successfully and operated in lunar orbit. It opened Pakistan's first lunar exploration mission. Although its assessed life was 5 hours, it actually operated in orbit for 55 days.

Other milestones included the establishment of the Fifth Academy, the start of China's space undertaking, Dongfanghong-1's launch on April 24, 1970, the return of China's first recoverable remote sensing satellite, and China becoming the third country to master satellite recovery technology.

Tianzhou-1 completed its first flight, and Tianzhou-2 began exploring an installation plan for pre-launch supplies.

China has deepened practical cooperation with more than 50 countries and international organizations. 9 projects from 17 countries were selected for the first batch of China Space Station international cooperation science experiment projects.

For lunar industry trackers, Chang'e-6 shows the technical constraints of far-side sample return, including a sampling window of no more than 17 hours and about 2,000 required actions.

The 4 international payloads and the jointly developed Pakistan CubeSat show foreign participation in lunar missions.

The China Space Station will welcome its first foreign astronaut.