China's Queqiao-2 satellite enters lunar orbit

On Sunday, 24 March, China's Queqiao-2 communications satellite entered the lunar orbit to open up opportunities for exploring the far side of the Moon.

Here's What We Know

Queqiao-2 began a 19-minute braking mode at (18:46 EET), entering the lunar gravity, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced.

The spacecraft is expected to enter its initial lunar orbit. The operators plan to make orbit and inclination changes to put Queqiao-2 into a highly elliptical frozen orbit measuring 200 by 16,000 km.

While maintaining a stable connection to ground stations, Queqiao-2 will circle the Moon in 24 hours. This orbit is expected to be quite stable and require minimal maintenance, ensuring the duration of the mission.

China also wants to launch its Chang'e-6 spacecraft in May to try to collect samples from the back of the Moon, which is never returned to Earth, so the Queqiao-2 satellite is essential for communications in this mission.

Source: Space news