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Mission record

Chang'e 1

Also known as Chang'e1

China National Space Administration · Launched

Explore trajectory

Completed · Success

China's first lunar mission, which imaged the whole Moon before being sent to a controlled impact on the surface.

Destinations
Launch vehicle
Long March 3A
Launch site
Xichang, Peoples Republic of China
Countries
Peoples Republic of China
Mission types
Orbiter

Chronology

Mission timeline

  1. Launch

    Chang'e 1 launched on a Long March 3A from Xichang Satellite Launch Center

  2. Departure

    A 13 minute burn placed the spacecraft on a trans-lunar trajectory

    Earth

  3. Orbit insertion

    A 22 minute braking burn put the spacecraft into a 200 x 8600 km near-polar lunar orbit

    Moon

  4. Impact

    Chang'e 1 executed a planned impact north of Mare Fecunditatis

    Moon

Mission architecture

Vehicles

  • Chang'e 1 · Orbiter

    Destinations: Moon

Trajectory record

Time-dependent navigation trajectory

Source states place the model at the selected time. Reconstructed flight, estimates, predictions and historical mission plans are identified by interval; gaps remain visible.

J2000 · Sun-centered display · positions interpolated between source states

Coverage: January 14, 2009 to January 14, 2009

Source records and sampling assumptions are retained with the repository data. Model attitude and surface appearance are illustrative.

  • Chang'e 1: Source-checked lunar orbit on 2009-01-14; other flight intervals remain open · January 14, 2009 to January 14, 2009

Provenance

Sources

Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.

Data verified through September 14, 2026