China plans more lunar missions after mineral discovery

China plans to send three more unmanned space missions to the moon in the next ten years. With this, the country wants to compete with the US in the era of the new space race. China’s National Space Administration, the equivalent of America’s NASA, has approved at least three space missions as part of the Chinese lunar program.

The announcement comes a day after Beijing announced the discovery of new lunar material in samples taken by the lunar mission Song-5. According to Chinese state media, it is a colorless transparent pillar crystal containing helium-3. It is an element that is said to be a future energy source.

In recent years, China has shown greater ambitions in space travel. The country not only wants to send space probes to the moon, but is also building its own space station. China has also set its sights on a mission to Mars. NASA already has a Mars rover on the red planet and plans to put astronauts on the moon again this decade. Both China and the US have their eye on the moon’s mineral resources and space mining is expected to be another source of tension between the economic superpowers.

China’s lunar exploration program began in 2004. Three years later, the first space shuttle was launched. Taking its name from the Chinese moon goddess, the Chang’e project is currently focused on collecting samples from the lunar surface. The Chang’e-7 project will focus on the moon’s south pole, an area scientists believe is the best place to find water. NASA is also targeting that part of the moon.