China Targets Moon's Frozen South Pole With Ambitious Chang'e-7 Mission

China is preparing to launch its Chang’e-7 lunar mission to the Moon’s South Pole, targeting one of the most extreme environments in the Solar System. The mission is designed to explore permanently shadowed craters where sunlight has been absent for billions of years and temperatures can drop to around -203°C. These regions are of particular scientific interest because the extreme cold can preserve materials such as water ice and other volatile substances for extraordinarily long periods.

The Moon’s polar regions have unusually low Sun angles, allowing deep craters to remain permanently shielded from sunlight. Without a substantial atmosphere to distribute heat, these shadowed areas can become extremely cold and act as natural cold traps. Scientists believe water and other substances that would otherwise evaporate from the lunar surface can remain frozen inside these regions. Evidence of lunar water has already been established by earlier missions, making the South Pole an increasingly important destination for future exploration.

Chang’e-7 is expected to investigate whether these frozen resources are present, where they are located and how they are distributed. The mission is scheduled to launch on August 24 from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Hainan aboard a Long March-5 rocket, although the exact launch time has not yet been confirmed. China plans to use multiple spacecraft and vehicles during the mission, including an orbiter, lander, rover and a small hopping probe capable of reaching challenging terrain.

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The hopping probe is particularly significant because permanently shadowed regions can be difficult for conventional rovers to access. By approaching these areas from different angles, the mission will gather information about the lunar surface, terrain, composition and geological structure. Scientists will also examine water ice and other volatile materials that could reveal more about the Moon’s history and the processes that have shaped its polar environment.

The mission also forms part of China’s broader plans for long-term lunar exploration. Chang’e-7 and the later Chang’e-8 mission are expected to contribute to the development of the proposed International Lunar Research Station. Mapping and characterising lunar ice could become important for determining whether resources found at the South Pole can eventually support sustained human activity on the Moon.

Water is particularly valuable because it could have uses beyond drinking. Its components can potentially be separated to produce oxygen and hydrogen, with hydrogen potentially serving as rocket propellant. This makes lunar ice an important resource for future exploration. By targeting one of the coldest and most inaccessible environments on the Moon, Chang’e-7 aims to determine whether the harsh conditions of the lunar South Pole also conceal resources that could support humanity’s future beyond Earth.

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