Space program of the People's Republic of China

China plans to land astronauts on the moon before 2030, which would be another advance in what's increasingly seen as a new space race.

The U.S. aims to put astronauts back on the lunar surface by the end of 2025.

Deputy Director of the Chinese Manned Space Agency Lin Xiqiang confirmed China's goal at a news conference yesterday but gave no specific date.

Chinese astronauts edged into space on Aug. 19 to add the finishing touches to a robotic arm on the Tiangong space station.

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The foray, the second spacewalk in two months and relayed on state television, is part of China's heavily promoted space programme which has already seen the nation land a rover on Mars and send probes to the moon.

Two astronauts conducted China's first tandem spacewalk on July 4, working on the outside of their nation's new Tiangong station in orbit around Earth.

Three Chinese astronauts blasted off in June, docking at the space station where they are to remain for three months in China's longest crewed mission to date.

It also wants to send an astronaut to the International Space Station

Under bright-blue morning skies, China launched its first crewed space mission in five years on June 17, sending three science-minded military pilots rocketing to a new orbiting station they're expected to reach around midafternoon.

An automated spacecraft docked with China's new space station on May 30 carrying fuel and supplies for its future crew, the Chinese space agency announced.

China launched the first module of its "Heavenly Palace" space station on Thursday, a milestone in Beijing's ambitious plan to establish a permanent human presence in space.

Billions of dollars have been poured into space exploration as China seeks to reflect its rising global stature and growing technological might, following in the footsteps of the United States, Russia and Europe.

Russia and China unveiled plans on March 9 for a joint lunar space station, as Moscow seeks to recapture the glory of its space pioneering days of Soviet times, and Beijing gears up its own extraterrestrial ambitions.

This year China will launch six to eight new satellites from the Beidou navigation system, officials said yesterday at the 10th China Satellite Navigation Conference.

Two or three satellites will be launched in 2020 when the Beidou-3 system will be fully completed, said China's Directorate for Satellite Navigation, Zheng Cheng Xin.

 China unveiled on Tuesday a replica of its first permanently crewed space station, which would replace the international community's orbiting laboratory and symbolises the country's major ambitions beyond Earth.