China's space program will hit a new high with the launch of Chang'e-5 by end of this year. The Chang'e-5 marks China's third phase in the lunar probe and its primary function would include bringing back samples from moon to earth for scientific analysis.

The Chang'e-5 will reportedly consist of an orbiter, the return vehicle, the ascender, and the lander. The orbiter and return vehicle will help Chang'e-5 in orbiting the earth, while the lander and ascender will facilitate the landing and aid in collecting the samples from the moon.   

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After collecting the samples, the spacecraft would land at Siziwang Banner in Inner Mongolia. From there, the samples will be taken to a laboratory for analysis.

"Once the samples are back, we can begin our analysis right away," Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist of China's Lunar Exploration Project, told reporters in October.

According to Hu Hao, the chief designer of the third phase, Chang'e-5 weighs 8.2 tons and will be launched into space by the rocket Long March 5.

Before Chang'e-5, China successfully completed the first two phases in lunar exploration. The Chang'e-1 and -2 constituted the first phase launched in 2007 and 2010, respectively, while Chang'e-3 in 2013 constituted the third phase.

China's latest lunar exploration would test its space capabilities to hilt, as it would be the first time since nearly five decades that a lunar mission would try to collect samples and retrieve back to earth. In early 1970s, US crewed and Soviet Union robotic missions successfully collected samples from moon and returned back to earth.

The Chang'e-5 mission represents China's unrelenting pursuit to become a self-reliant country in space exploration. Many experts claimed that the Chinese government wants to demonstrate the country's newly found economic status through its space missions. 

TagsChang’e 5, chinese space program, Chang'e-3, Chinese Lunar Exploration, china