Global Times reports: People visit the 2026 Beijing International Commercial Space Exhibition in Beijing, capital of China, January 23, 2026. The exhibition kicked off here on the day. Photo: VCGChina's robust development in the domain of deep-space exploration will see new advancement, as the country schedules the launch of its Chang'e-7 lunar probe this year to target the Moon's south pole in search of water ice - a critical resource for future sustained human presence and base construction on the Moon, the Global Times learned from the state-owned space program contractor China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) on Wednesday.
A series of large-scale tests in the prototype phase have been successively completed, such as the Mengzhou crewed spacecraft zero-altitude escape flight, the Lanyue lander landing and liftoff verification, the Long March-10 carrier rocket tethered ignition, electrical assembly testing of the lunar spacesuit components, thermal-vacuum and force tests on the crewed lunar rover, the Long March-10 carrier rocket system low-altitude demonstration verification, and the Mengzhou crewed spacecraft system maximum dynamic pressure escape flight. Subsequently, the program will transition as planned to the formal sample development phase, said the space giant.These are sectors expected to become foundational drivers of economic growth, likely meaning they will benefit from strong policy support, state financing and industrial development programs, Andrew Jones, a Finland-based China space observer and journalist, wrote in his opinion piece published on spacenews.com.
Background
The move suggests Beijing intends to expand the space sector beyond strategic state programs toward a larger industrial ecosystem encompassing launch services, satellites and downstream data applications, he said.The China Central Television (CCTV) noted in a special program aired on Wednesday decoding China's deep-space exploration guided in the government work report that Chang'e-7 probe will target landing at the South Pole-Aitken Basin above 85 degrees south latitude on the Moon. China is hopefully to become the world's first country to discover water on the Moon, CCTV said.Ye Peijian, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and one of the foundational figures in China's deep-space exploration, told the CCTV that scientists around the world all believe there is water on the Moon, but no one has ever obtained any water.
Key facts
- People visit the 2026 Beijing International Commercial Space Exhibition in Beijing, capital of China, January 23, 2026.
- The exhibition kicked off here on the day.
- "The Chinese people are going to go find this water.
What this means
"The Chinese people are going to go find this water. To find the water, many methods are being employed: searching on the surface, and even going inside the pits to search," said Ye who is also chief commander and chief designer advisor for the Chang'e lunar series and Mars probes.
Originally reported by Global Times. This story has been edited and re-presented by BRIC Team.
