A Long March-8 rocket, carrying the relay satellite Queqiao-2 for Earth-Moon communications, blasts off at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in South China's Hainan province on Wendesday. [Photo by Yuan Chen/For chinadaily.com.cn]

China launched a relay satellite on Wednesday morning to lunar orbit to pave the way for the space power's prospective trailblazing expeditions to the Moon.

The Queqiao 2, or Magpie Bridge 2, satellite was lifted atop a Long March 8 carrier rocket that blasted off at 8:31 am from a coastal launch pad at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in China's southernmost island province of Hainan.

After a 24-minute flight, the satellite was released from the rocket and then entered into a lunar transfer trajectory. At the same time, the solar wings and communication antennas smoothly unfolded.

The completion of the maneuvers marked the launch mission's success and the Queqiao 2 has started its journey toward the moon, according to Ge Ping, one of senior officials at the China National Space Administration who oversee the lunar program.

"The launch took place on time and the satellite entered its trajectory with good accuracy, laying a solid foundation for its coming operations," he said.

In the next few days, the spacecraft is scheduled to carry out a series of maneuvers such as a mid-course trajectory correction and a braking operation before it enters an elliptical frozen orbit around the moon to become the second relay satellite above the silver celestial body.

After its arrival in the predetermined orbital position, Queqiao 2 will conduct two-way communication tests with the Chang'e 4 probe that is on the lunar surface and the Chang'e 6, which is waiting for launch at the Wenchang center, to examine its performance, according to Ge.

People watch the Long March 8 carrier rocket lift off in Wenchang, Hainan province, on Wendesday. [Photo by Zheng Xinqia/South Daily]

Developed by the China Academy of Space Technology, Queqiao 2 is based on the CAST2000 satellite framework. It weighs about 1.2 metric tons and has two major payloads － a 4.2-meter parabolic antenna for communications with lunar probes and a 0.6-meter parabolic antenna used to transmit data to the ground control.

Queqiao 2 is primarily tasked with relaying signals and data between the Chang'e 6 robotic mission, which has been scheduled to be launched by a Long March 5 heavy-lift rocket before July.

In the long term, the satellite will also serve the Chang'e 7 and 8 missions that will be the basis for an ambitious multinational plan known as the International Lunar Research Station to be constructed in the 2030s.

These coming missions are expected to inject new momentum into China's lunar exploration adventure that has already gained remarkable feats.

A Long March-8 rocket, carrying the relay satellite Queqiao-2 for Earth-Moon communications, blasts off at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in South China's Hainan province on Wendesday. [Photo by Huang Yangyang/For chinadaily.com.cn]

China opened its lunar program in 2004 and has launched five robotic probes to our nearest celestial neighbor since 2007. The most recent mission, the Chang'e 5, landed on the Moon in December 2020 and soon returned 1,731 grams of lunar samples back to Earth, achieving a historic accomplishment about 44 years after the last lunar substances were brought back from the silver sphere.

Wednesday's flight marked the third mission of the Long March 8, a medium-lift rocket designed and built by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, and the first time the type has been used in a lunar mission.

To ensure a successful launch, engineers at the academy designed six flight plans in case that the most preferred launch date is postponed due to bad weather or other unfavorable situations.

They also worked out a new technology that enables the rocket to withstand the effects of upper-atmospheric winds, which often cause hazards to a vertically flying craft.

Moreover, engineers placed additional heat-proof paint-coat on the Long March 8 to offset the extreme heat that challenges every rocket bound for lunar transfer trajectory, according to the academy.

The relay satellite Queqiao 2 and the Long March 8 carrier rocket are vertically transferred to the launch area of the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province on Sunday. [Photo/Xinhua]

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