The spacecraft would also make room for 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of foreign science payloads, the agency said on its website. This could allow overseas partners to conduct lunar research by “piggybacking” off the mission, Chinese state media said. China is not alone in elevating its space program and lunar ambitions as multiple countries eye the potential scientific benefit, national prestige and access to resources and further deep space exploration that successful moon missions could bring. That same week, Russia’s first lunar mission in decades ended in failure with its Luna 25 spacecraft crashing into the moon’s surface. Its last mission, Chang’e-5, landed on the moon in December 2020 and returned with samples of lunar rocks and soil.

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Persons: CNSA, ”, “ piggybacking, Artemis, Hu Hao, Hu, can’t, Pakistan’s Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Space Administration, International Astronautical, United, NASA, Artemis, Aitken, European Space Agency Locations: Hong Kong, Beijing, Baku, Azerbaijan, China, Russia, Venezuela, South Africa, India, United States, Italian