Beijing/Jiuquan: China on Monday announced plans to send a manned mission to the moon by 2030 for lunar scientific exploration, amid its deepening space race with the West.
The announcement was made by Lin Xiqiang, Deputy Director of the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), as China is preparing to send a third set of astronauts to its space station on Tuesday.
Li told the media at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Inner Mongolia ahead of the launch of the spacecraft that takes the three astronauts to the space station called Tiangong that China has recently initiated under the lunar landing phase of its manned lunar exploration programme.