The Shenzhou-15 landing capsule touched down at the Dongfeng site in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, signaling another milestone for China’s crewed space program. The three taikonauts aboard—Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming, and Zhang Lu—safely completed their descent, a moment captured on public security footage reported by state broadcasters. This landing marks a successful return from a mission that highlighted China’s advanced space operations and its capability to support long-duration stays at a space station in orbit.
Official outlets indicate that the Shenzhou-15 crew concluded its tasks and undocked from China’s orbital research facility, with the reserve crew of Shenzhou-16 remaining aboard the station to continue ongoing experiments and station operations. The sequence demonstrates careful mission planning, robust life-support systems, and real-time ground monitoring that underscores China’s growing proficiency in sustaining human presence in orbital platforms while conducting scientific work under challenging conditions.
Looking ahead, authorities have reiterated long-term goals for a human Moon program, including plans to send astronauts to the lunar surface by around 2030. These ambitions fit into a broader strategy to expand robotic and crewed activity beyond low Earth orbit, integrating lessons learned from orbital platforms with next-step missions toward exploration and science on the Moon.
On the lunar surface, researchers envision operations that could include mobility with a lunar rover, enabling crews to move efficiently across the terrain, gather samples, and perform a range of scientific experiments. The objective is to establish capabilities that support sustained surface research, data collection, and technology demonstrations that feed into longer-term exploration concepts and international collaboration in future decades.
Earlier communications from Beijing highlighted progress in lunar science and exploration planning, including a 2024 directive to send a probe to the Moon’s far side. This emphasis on far-side science aims to expand humanity’s understanding of the Moon’s geology, environment, and potential resources, expanding the catalog of observational data and ensuring new measurements complement near-side missions.
In parallel, the Chang’e-7 initiative has been positioned as a foundational project that could contribute to building a lunar research base. By advancing robotic precursor missions, lander technologies, and surface operations, China is outlining a framework for sustained human and robotic presence on the Moon, designed to support longer-term exploration, technology testing, and international collaboration as part of a broader space science agenda.
As part of the public display in February, officials showcased a mock-up of a lunar lander intended to carry astronauts to the Moon’s surface, underscoring the emphasis on human-landing capabilities and the engineering work that supports safe, controlled soft landings. This visual demonstration aligns with broader timelines and research milestones designed to prove critical landing, ascent, and habitat technologies that will be evaluated in future missions and used to inform mission design for crewed lunar operations.