“China's robust development in the domain of deep-space exploration will see new advancement, as the country schedules the launch of its Chang'e-7 lunar probe this year to target the Moon's south pole in search of water ice - a critical resource for future sustained human presence and base construction on the Moon, the Global Times learned from the state-owned space program contractor China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) on Wednesday.”

“Sun Zezhou, a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress and a leading engineer of the country's lunar exploration program with the CASC' China Academy of Spacecraft Technology, revealed that the Phase 4 of China's lunar exploration program is progressing steadily and the Chang'e-7 will focus on detailed surveying of the south polar surface environment, lunar regolith water ice deposits, and conduct high-precision studies of lunar topography, material composition, and geological structure.”

“Currently, the development of major flight products, including the Long March-10 carrier rocket, the Mengzhou new-generation crewed spacecraft, and the Lanyue lunar lander, is progressing smoothly, the CASC disclosed in a statement sent to the Global Times.”

“A series of large-scale tests in the prototype phase have been successively completed, such as the Mengzhou crewed spacecraft zero-altitude escape flight, the Lanyue lander landing and liftoff verification, the Long March-10 carrier rocket tethered ignition, electrical assembly testing of the lunar spacesuit components, thermal-vacuum and force tests on the crewed lunar rover, the Long March-10 carrier rocket system low-altitude demonstration verification, and the Mengzhou crewed spacecraft system maximum dynamic pressure escape flight.”

“The China Central Television (CCTV) noted in a special program aired on Wednesday decoding China's deep-space exploration guided in the government work report that Chang'e-7 probe will target landing at the South Pole-Aitken Basin above 85 degrees south latitude on the Moon.”

“China is hopefully to become the world's first country to discover water on the Moon, CCTV said.”

“Ye Peijian, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and one of the foundational figures in China's deep-space exploration, told the CCTV that scientists around the world all believe there is water on the Moon, but no one has ever obtained any water.”