Chinese space program

China has one of the most active space programs in the world. With launch vehicles of the Long March rocket family and four spaceports (Jiuquan, Taiyuan, Xichang, Wenchang), China conducts the most or second most orbital launches each year, and is one of three countries with a human spaceflight capability. China's fleet of over 1,300 Earth orbitsatellites serves communication, navigation, reconnaissance and scientific research. China Manned Space Program operates Tiangong, one of two active space stations alongside the International Space Station (ISS). Most space operations are conducted by civilian China National Space Administration (CNSA) and the military People's Liberation Army Aerospace Force (PLAASF). CNSA has achieved robotic rover, lander, and orbiter missions to the Moon and Mars. PLAASF directs the Astronaut Corps and its Deep Space Network.

From the 1950s, aided by the Soviet Union, development began on China's nuclear weapons, Dongfengballistic missiles, and Long March rockets, honored as the Two Bombs, One Satellite projects. Despite setbacks from the Cultural Revolution and Sino-Soviet split, China became the fifth country to independently launch a satellite, Dong Fang Hong 1 in 1970. China developed the Shenzhou crewed craft from Russia's Soyuz after a 1995 treaty; Shenzhou 5 carried the first Chinese astronaut in 2003. China commercially launched Western satellites from 1988, but failures, especially Intelsat 708, caused the US to embargo satellite export in 1998. After the US vetoed its joining the ISS, China began the Tiangong program, operating prototypes Tiangong-1 and -2 before the current Tiangong, the world's third modular space station. Since the 2020s, the program has been contrasted against Western space programs as the "New Space Race".

China's Moon missions achieved the world's first far side landing (Chang'e 4), far side sample return (Chang'e 6), and longest-lived rover (Yutu-2). China's interplanetary missions deployed Tianwen-1, a Marsorbiter, lander, and the roverZhurong; Tianwen-2 visited an asteroid in 2026 and will visit a comet in 2035. Its satellite constellations include BeiDou Navigation, Gaofen Observation, and the Guowang and Qianfaninternet constellations. Long March 5 is the most powerful rocket operating outside of the US, and first Long March to not use hypergolic propellant.

Since 2019, China's private and state enterprises have made over a hundred launches with new rocket designs, such as the Kuaizhou family and Ceres-1. China is developing reusable spacecraft, including the Long March 10 rocket family and a military spaceplane. China plans a crewed lunar landing by 2030, using the under-development Mengzhou craft, Lanyue lander, and Long March 10 rocket. After scouting with Chang'e 7 and 8, China aims to construct the International Lunar Research Station at the lunar south pole from 2031, collaborating with Roscosmos and 11 other countries; China previously cooperated with the European Space Agency on deep space tracking and space science. The Tianwen-3 robotic Mars sample-return is scheduled for dual launches in 2028, and the Tianwen-4Jupiter orbiter and Uranus flyby in 2029; the Shensuo probes aim to flyby Neptune.