China has launched a relay satellite into the space to establish a communication link between Earth and the proposed Chang’e-4 lunar probe that will explore the far side of the Moon.
A Long March-4C rocket has launched the satellite named Queqiao from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in south-west China, said China National Space Administration (CNSA).
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Nearly 25 minutes after lift-off, Queqiao separated from the rocket and entered an Earth-Moon transfer orbit.
It is set to operate from an orbital position of approximately 455,000km from the Earth, becoming the first satellite to operate from that position.
Queqiao has already deployed its solar panels and the communication antennas.
Relay satellite project manager Zhang Lihua was quoted by Xinhua as saying: “The launch is a key step for China to realise its goal of being the first country to send a probe to soft-land on and rove the far side of the Moon.”
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By GlobalDataQueqiao features a low-frequency radio spectrometer developed by Dutch scientists to allow researchers to ‘listen’ to the deeper areas of the universe.
It also includes a small lunar optical imaging detector developed by Saudi Arabia, as well as a reflector developed by researchers at China’s Sun Yat-sen University to perform laser-ranging experiments between the relay satellite and an observatory on the ground at a maximum distance of 460,000km.
In addition, Longjiang-1 and Longjiang-2 microsatellites were launched along with Queqiao to orbit the Moon for carrying out ultra-long-wave astronomical observation, which could enable the study of origins of the universe.
