Queqiao-2 Mission
3/20/2024
Queqiao-2 will use X-band and UHF frequencies to communicate with spacecraft and S-band and Ka-band frequencies to communicate with Earth.
Queqiao-2’s 24-hour-period elliptical frozen orbit will place the satellite beyond the moon to provide line of sight with both Earth ground stations and Chang’e-6 in Apollo crater.
The Queqiao-2 lunar relay satellite mission is a prerequisite for China to launch the Chang’e-6 lunar far side sample return mission.
Queqiao-2 is planned to operate in a 24-hour-period, elliptical frozen orbit that places it beyond the moon with line of sight to both Earth ground stations and Apollo crater on the lunar far side.
Queqiao-2 carries science payloads for the 2026 Chang’e-7 mission including an extreme ultraviolet camera, an array neutral atom imager, and an Earth–moon baseline very long baseline interferometry experiment.
China launched the Queqiao-2 relay satellite on a Long March 8 rocket from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center at 8:31 p.m. Eastern on 2024-03-19 (0031 UTC March 20).
Queqiao-2 is intended to support China’s future lunar exploration and serve as a stepping stone towards building a lunar base in the 2030s.
Queqiao-2 will use S-band and Ka-band frequencies for communications with Earth.
Queqiao-2 will use X-band and UHF bands to communicate with Chang’e spacecraft.
Queqiao-2 carries payloads for the science objectives of the 2026 Chang’e-7 mission including an extreme ultraviolet camera, an energetic neutral atom imager, and an Earth–Moon baseline very long baseline interferometry experiment.
Queqiao-2 will host an Earth–Moon baseline very long baseline interferometry experiment that will utilize its large antenna.
Queqiao-2’s 24-hour-period frozen orbit will provide simultaneous direct line-of-sight with both ground stations on Earth and the lunar far side for large portions of the orbit.
Queqiao-2 has been deployed to relay signals between Earth ground stations and Chang'e-6 on the lunar far side.
China’s lunar exploration blueprint includes Queqiao-2, CE-6, CE-7 around 2026, CE-8 around 2028, a crewed lunar landing before 2030, and an ILRS moon base in the 2030s.
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.
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.
Queqiao-2 is operating in a specialized lunar orbit to relay communications between Chang’e-6 on the far side and Earth ground stations.
DFH Satellite, a unit of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, indicated in 2023 that Queqiao-2 could provide relay communication services for other countries’ lunar landing missions at the lunar south pole or lunar far side.