Mission record
Queqiao 2
Also known as Queqiao-2, Magpie Bridge-2
China National Space Administration · Launched
Explore trajectoryActive · Active
China's Queqiao 2 relay satellite entered its target highly elliptical orbit around the Moon and supported Chang'e 6's far-side landing.
- Destinations
- Launch vehicle
- Long March 8
- Launch site
- Wenchang Space Launch Site
- Countries
- China
- Mission types
- Other
Chronology
Mission timeline
Launch
Queqiao 2 launched on a Long March 8 from Wenchang Space Launch Site
HIT gives shared Long March8 launch at March20 08:31:28 China standard time, converted to UTC.
EarthMilestone
Queqiao-2 began its lunar capture braking burn
CNSA reports March25 00:46 China standard time at about440km altitude; capture followed about19minutes later. This timestamp is the burn START, not a precisely timed completed orbit insertion.
MoonMilestone
Queqiao 2 supported Chang'e 6's far-side landing
Relay support at the source-defined Chang’e-6 touchdown instant.
Moon
Mission architecture
Vehicles
Queqiao-2 · Spacecraft
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.
- Queqiao-2: Project Pluto optical-fit transfer estimate, 21–22 March 2024; later lunar capture is uncovered. · March 20, 2024 to March 22, 2024
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
- China launches new relay satellite for Earth-Moon communications - CNSA — CNSAOther · Supports: mission claims
- China successfully deploys Queqiao-2 relay satellite for future lunar exploration - The State Council of the People's Republic of China — OTHEROther · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- China's relay satellite operating smoothly, ready to support global lunar missions - CASC — OTHEROther · Supports: mission claims
- China's Chang'e-6 lands on moon's far side to collect samples - CNSA — CNSAOther · Supports: mission claims
- CAS Institute of Mechanics: Chang’e-6 relay geometry and Queqiao-2 antennas — OTHERTechnical document · Supports: mission claims
- CNSA: Queqiao-2 deployed flight image and relay commissioning — CNSATechnical document · Supports: mission claims
- CNSA: Queqiao-2 braking start and Tiandu pair capture completion — CNSATechnical document · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- CNSA / CAST: Chang’e-6 actual landing and deployment design — CNSATechnical document · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- HIT: Original Tiandu spacecraft design, launch clock and planned transfer — OTHERTechnical document · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Queqiao-2 optical-fit pseudo-MPEC — OTHERArchive · Supports: mission 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
- Planet Sizes and Locations in Our Solar System — NASAOther · Supports: destination/body context