Early in 2024, China plans to launch the Queqiao-2 relay satellite.
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced on Friday that China intends to launch the newly created relay satellite Queqiao-2 (Magpie Bridge-2) in the first half of 2024 to assist communications between its upcoming lunar mission, Chang’e-6, and Earth.
Communications between lunar spacecraft and the ground personnel will be forwarded by Queqiao-2. It is an improved version of the Queqiao satellite, which serves as the Chang’e-4 mission’s relay satellite.
China’s Chang’e-6 mission will aim for a crater inside the South Pole-Aitken Basin when it lands on the far side of the moon in 2024. It requires the Queqiao-2 satellite to relay data because it cannot directly communicate with the Earth due to the moon’s obstruction.
According to Tang Yuhua, deputy chief designer of the Chang’e-7 mission at CNSA’s Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Centre, the satellite will modify its orbit after the Chang’e-6 mission is complete and continue to support the follow-up Chang’e-7 and Chang’e-8 missions, as well as future lunar exploration missions.
According to Tang, Queqiao-2 will likewise succeed the first Queqiao as a relay communication system for the Chang’e-4 and Yutu-2 probes on the far side of the moon as its planned lifetime is likely to end.
Queqiao-2 is anticipated to perform significant scientific exploration missions in the interim.
