​China often exaggerates when it promises something, but not everything it promises comes true. But China has a complicated agenda when it comes to lunar exploration, and wants to test building “bricks” from lunar soil and then eventually erect structures on the lunar surface using 3D printers and robots.

China, the Moon and big ambitions

China has been increasingly vocal about its plans for the moon, and China Daily recently reported that 3D printing technologies will be tested to see if they can be used to build a future lunar base after 2030.

The Chang’e 8 mission, which will be launched in 2028, will investigate the mineral composition of the lunar soil and try to give a verdict on the question: can a super 3D printer build a lunar base?

China also promises that this mission will also test work, the task of which will be to try to make some kind of brick from regolith, that is, from lunar soil.

China also wants to send taikonauts to the surface of the moon by 2030.

China’s future missions to the moon

• In 2025, Chang’e 6 will attempt to deliver soil and rock samples from the far side of the Moon to Earth.

• Chang’e 7 will be a complex mission to the region of the south pole of the Moon, and several vehicles will be sent: an orbital probe, a lander, a rover, a communication satellite and a detector that will be able to study the ice in lunar craters. It should be launched in 2026.

• Chang’e 8 should be launched no earlier than 2028 and test technologies such as 3D printing and others on the moon in order to use local resources.

When it comes to the space program, China is almost obsessed with the moon. In small steps, he achieved more and more important things, and the ultimate goal after a new series of missions is to develop an inhabited base on the moon, as well as mining valuable minerals on the moon.

For China, this is clearly a matter of prestige, and unlike Russia, money for the development of the space program will not be a problem.

China has very bold plans for the moon, and has already achieved several successes, transferring a module to the far side of the moon in 2019 and successfully delivering lunar soil samples to Earth in 2020. Chang’e 5 was called the mission of which the Chinese are extremely proud.

It is clear that billions of dollars will be needed for a long series of missions, and for China it is a matter of prestige and a way to show that the country is a superpower in space as well. China clearly positions itself as one of the USSR (and then Russia) and the USA among the space powers.

A moment of great pride for the Chinese was when they managed to put a rover on the surface of Mars, and it became operational and sent back data and photos. Only the USA managed to put rovers on Mars. Another step that shows how far China has come is related to the construction of an orbital space station, which was completed in 2022.

The Chinese have been waiting for a very long time and think that eventually they will mine metals and minerals on the moon. The Chinese clearly know that the moon is rich in resources such as “rare earths” and these resources can be exploited when the technology allows them to be used. They want to get there, but will have to overcome some difficult steps.

The Asians also want to test a number of technologies on the moon and say the moon is also important from a scientific point of view. Being so close to Earth, it is much easier to study than asteroids or planets, and missions to the Moon are still much cheaper than missions to Mars or Mercury.

On the Moon, it is also possible to test state-of-the-art space mining technologies, which will allow drilling asteroids no earlier than in 15-20 years, knowing that asteroids are rich in very expensive minerals.

Sources: space.com, Reuters, BBC