Chang'e 5

Mission Profile

Chang'e 5 is China's ambitious robotic lunar sample return mission, launched on 23 November 2020 aboard a Long March 5 to collect and return fresh lunar volcanic material from Mons Rümker in Oceanus Procellarum — a geologically young volcanic region never sampled by previous missions. The complex four-element mission (orbiter, lander, ascent vehicle, and return capsule) successfully collected 1,731 grams of lunar soil using a drill and surface scoop, then launched an ascent vehicle from the lunar surface, performed a fully automated rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit, transferred the samples, and returned them to Earth on 16 December 2020. Analysis of the samples revealed they are approximately 1.97 billion years old, 1 billion years younger than any previously returned lunar material, extending the timeline of lunar volcanism far beyond what models predicted. Chang'e 5 made China the third nation to return lunar samples, following the US Apollo program and Soviet Luna probes.