鹊桥
CNSA launched the Queqiao 2 satellite to a Distant Retrograde Orbit last year to support Earth–Moon communications for the Chang'e 6 spacecraft modules.
Queqiao 1 enabled the Chang'e 4 mission to be the first lunar farside mission.
NASA has not yet launched a dedicated lunar communications spacecraft comparable to the Queqiao network.
Queqiao 2 had a launch mass of 1,200 kilograms.
China is building a lunar navigation and communications constellation named Queqiao to improve surface coverage time and area for future lunar missions.
Chi Wang et al. included testing of an element of Queqiao 2’s capabilities in a December 2023 paper for the upcoming Chang'e 7 mission.
Tiandu 1 was launched alongside the Queqiao 2 orbiter in March.
Queqiao 2 enabled China’s Chang’e 6 lunar farside mission.
Queqiao 1 enabled China’s Chang’e 4 lunar farside mission.
China has advanced its lunar communications and navigation network through Tiandu 1, Queqiao 1, and Queqiao 2.
The Queqiao 2 launch carried two experimental Tiandu CubeSats to test technologies for a future Chinese lunar navigation and communications constellation.
A paper in the Chinese Journal of Space Science proposed integrating China’s Queqiao lunar satellites with the Tianlian Earthbound relay satellites to improve surface coverage time and area and provide redundancy for crewed lunar missions and a potential Moonbase.
China deployed the Queqiao 1 and Queqiao 2 communications relay orbiters to support farside lunar missions.
Queqiao 1 served China’s Chang’e 4 mission and Queqiao 2 served China’s Chang’e 6 mission on the Moon’s farside.
Queqiao 2 will relay communications for China’s Chang’e 7 and Chang’e 8 lunar landers targeted for launch in 2026 and 2028 respectively.
Queqiao-2 is operating in a specialized lunar orbit to relay communications between Chang’e-6 on the far side and Earth ground stations.
The Chang’e-6 mission is supported by the Queqiao-2 satellite, which operates in a specialized orbit to relay communications between the lunar far side and Earth ground stations.
China launched the Queqiao-2 relay satellite in March into a specialized lunar orbit to provide communications between Earth and the lunar far side.
China launched a relay satellite named Queqiao-2 in March 2024 and Queqiao-2 is in a specialized lunar orbit to facilitate communications between Chang’e-6 on the lunar far side and ground stations on Earth.
Chang’e-6 builds on China’s Chang’e-4 lander and rover mission to the lunar far side, the first Queqiao relay satellite, and the 2020 Chang’e-5 nearside sample-return mission.