On July 13, 2026, the Long March 5 Y14 carrier rocket safely arrived at the Wenchang Space Launch Site on Hainan Island. The rocket will carry the Change-7 lunar probe, which had already been delivered to the site earlier. The mission team is now proceeding with vehicle assembly and integrated testing in preparation for launch.
Chang-e-7's primary destination is the Moon's south pole — a region that has become the new frontier of lunar exploration. Unlike the equatorial and mid-latitude landing sites of previous missions, the lunar south pole contains permanently shadowed craters where scientists believe water ice may have accumulated over billions of years. Confirming the presence and distribution of water ice is one of Change-7's core objectives, because water can be split into oxygen for breathing and hydrogen for rocket fuel, making it the most valuable resource for sustained human presence on the Moon.
The mission is technically ambitious. Chang-e-7 will deploy a lander, a rover, and a "hopping" detector capable of leaping into permanently shadowed craters to analyze their contents. The rover uses a leg-type walking mechanism rather than wheels, an innovation designed to handle the rugged, uneven terrain of the polar highlands. The mission will also carry instruments from multiple international partners, continuing China's practice of collaborative lunar science.
Chang-e-7 follows the historic Chang-e-6 mission, which in 2024 achieved humanity's first-ever sample return from the lunar far side. Together with the planned Chang-e-8 mission, these probes form the "Chang-e Lunar Science Station" blueprint — a robotic precursor to a permanent international lunar research outpost that China aims to build in the 2030s.
Knowledge takeaway: The Long March 5 Y14 rocket arrived at Wenchang on July 13, 2026, for the Chang-e-7 lunar south pole mission; the south pole is targeted because its permanently shadowed craters may harbor water ice — a critical resource for future human habitats; the mission deploys a leg-type walking rover and a hopping detector to explore rugged polar terrain; Chang-e-7 follows Change-6's historic 2024 far-side sample return; the mission is a stepping stone toward a planned international lunar research station in the 2030s.