China launches international project for cislunar satellite network

China has started an international project to build a three-dimensional satellite network between Earth and the moon that will track solar activity and study some of the universe’s most powerful explosions.

The project plans to send 30 backpack-sized CubeSats into highly elliptical orbits around Earth in the next four years or so, according to the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, which will lead the project.

The laboratory said on Friday the constellation would “fill a global gap in systematic observations of cislunar space”. Participants include Egypt, Indonesia, Senegal, Serbia and Thailand.

A separate group of CubeSats will be sent into orbit around the moon to search for lunar resources, but further details have not been disclosed.

“Cislunar space extends from low-Earth orbit to about 2 million km [1.2 million miles] from Earth. It is a new frontier for human activity and a key region for future crewed missions to the moon and the construction of lunar bases,” the laboratory said.

Scientists have long relied on individual spacecraft to study this enormous region, leaving many areas unexplored.

With dozens of satellites observing from different locations at once, scientists can track energetic particles and magnetic disturbances from the sun as they sweep through the region, revealing how space weather develops.