China made history at the start of the year when its Chang’e 4 lander and Yutu 2 rover becomes the first to explore of the moon’s far side. But the country’s extraterrestrial ambitions will not end there. China will begin work on a moonbase within the next decade to ready for future missions to the Red Planet.
The research facility will be based near the moon’s ice-rich south pole and will be shared with multiple countries.
Ice is an important commodity as it will both provide water and be used as a component for rocket fuel.
And the lunar base will not only serve as a platform for research but also as a refuelling station for exploring the solar system.
The state-run Beijing News reported: “Building a lunar base will accumulate experience for an eventual landing on the moon and serve as a stopover as we fly to Mars.”
The revelation arrived on both China’s National Space Day and the 46th anniversary of the launch of the country’s first artificial satellite.
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And the ambitious announcement also comes hot on the heels of January’s Chang’e-4 unmanned mission to the far side of the moon.
The joint lander and rover mission — the first to set out to explore the far side of the moon — is analysing the chemistry of the rocks for comparison with samples taken from the Earth-facing side of the moon.
It’s Yutu 2 rover can only act at night, as temperatures at the landing sight reach 200 degrees C (390 degrees F) during the day, forcing the rover into brief periods of hibernation.
Former NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao said: “China had talked previously about their lunar intentions so it’s exciting if they have at last set out a time frame.
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“It’s an aggressive timeline, but not impossible.
“The architecture now being developed is more about building sustainable infrastructure to keep a human presence there.”
China’s planned lunar base is likely to be constructed near the moon’s south pole, a region which is also the target of intended future US manned space mission.
This part of the moon is rich in ice that located inside permanently shadowed craters.
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The whole region has been comprehensively mapped out by NASA’s robotic Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
A reliable water supply will be essential to future manned lunar missions, as is required for both human life support and also the production of rocket fuel.
This fact will position the moon as a key pit-stop for future manned craft en-route to Mars and further out into space.
Support for space exploration has been growing among the Chinese population.
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President Xi Jinping is sanguine that future space missions will foster growth in Chinese aviation, robotics and artificial intelligence research, with a strong space programme being core to his ongoing national revival programme.
In the more immediate future, Beijing will be sending another spacecraft to the moon later this year, in December.
The probe will collect and return samples of moon rock for analysis and display back on the Earth, Zhang Kejian, the administrator of the China National Space Administration, said.