Lanyue

Lanyue, meaning embracing the Moon, is the crewed lunar lander that China is developing for its crewed lunar missions. Known early in development as the China crewed lunar surface lander, it is being built by the China Academy of Space Technology. Under the plan, astronauts travel to low lunar orbit aboard the Mengzhou spacecraft and dock with a waiting Lanyue, which is launched on its own Long March 10 rocket. Two astronauts then move into the lander, attempt a landing on the lunar surface and return to low lunar orbit after a period of surface operations. Lanyue consists of a propulsion stage and a landing and ascent stage, and unlike the Apollo Lunar Module it jettisons its propulsion stage before landing. The first lunar landing attempt is planned for before 2030, and in August 2025 the China Manned Space Agency announced successful integrated landing and ascent tests with a test article.