Mission record
Longjiang 2
Also known as Longjiang2
Peoples Republic of China · Launched
Explore trajectoryCompleted · Success
A Chinese microsatellite that reached lunar orbit for low-frequency radio astronomy and returned images of the Earth beyond the Moon.
- Destinations
- Launch vehicle
- Long March 4C
- Launch site
- Xichang Satellite Launch Center
- Countries
- Peoples Republic of China
- Mission types
- Orbiter, Observatory
Chronology
Mission timeline
Launch
Longjiang 2 launched with Queqiao and Longjiang 1
Deployment
Longjiang2 completed deployment of its lower LFIS tripole antenna
Only a calendar date is reported; the exact deployment clock remains unresolved.
Milestone
A disposal maneuver lowered Longjiang2 periapsis by approximately500km
Impact
Longjiang 2 impacted the lunar far side after its disposal orbit decayed
A January2019 maneuver deliberately lowered periapsis before natural orbital evolution led to impact.
Moon
Mission architecture
Vehicles
Longjiang 2 · 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.
Source records and sampling assumptions are retained with the repository data. Model attitude and surface appearance are illustrative.
- Longjiang-2: Bounded one-orbit reconstruction beginning from CDSN June 2018 lunar elements; all other intervals remain open · June 8, 2018 to June 9, 2018
Provenance
Sources
Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.
Data verified through October 11, 2026
- Longjiang 2 - NASA NSSDCA Master Catalog — NSSDCAMission page · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Design and flight results of the VHF/UHF communication system of Longjiang lunar microsatellites | Nature Communications — OTHERPaper · Supports: mission claims
- Yan et al.: Longjiang LFIS hardware and actual antenna deployments — OTHERTechnical document · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Wei et al.: CDSN Moon ICRF orbital elements, Supplementary Table 5 — OTHERTechnical document · Supports: mission claims
- DSLWP amateur radio team: whole-mission public telemetry, v1.0 — OTHERTechnical document · Supports: mission claims
- Estévez: Longjiang-2 actual January 2019 deorbit maneuver — OTHERTechnical document · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- China launches relay satellite to explore Moon's far side - Xinhua — OTHEROther · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- China launches relay satellite to explore Moon's far side - CNSA — OTHERMission page · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- DE421 lunar mean-Earth and principal-axes frame specification — NAIFTechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- DE440 lunar mean-Earth and principal-axes frame specification — NAIFSpice · Supports: destination/body context
- IAU rotational elements and body radii (PCK 00011) — NAIFSpice · Supports: destination/body context
- LOLA global lunar height maps, LDEM_4 V3 original PDS source label — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- LOLA 2023 south-polar elevation, uncertainty and effective-resolution maps — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- Blue Ghost Lunar Lander Seen From Above: LROC site and terrain context — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- Moon Facts — NASAOther · Supports: destination/body context
- SLDEM2015 Blue Ghost region: original PDS elevation-grid label — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- JPL Solar System Dynamics Astrodynamic Parameters — JPLOther · Supports: destination/body context