Will China’s slow and steady moon landing plan be a safer bet than the US’?

China’s full dress rehearsal for its crewed moon landing would be tougher on schedule but safer than Nasa’s cheaper bet on commercial landers, a US space policy analyst said after the rival powers updated their lunar plans within a week of each other.

Wang Xiang, deputy chief designer of China’s crewed space programme, said in Beijing on October 31 that, before sending any astronauts, China would dock the Lanyue lander and Mengzhou spacecraft in lunar orbit, and Lanyue would touch down, lift off and redock.

Nasa would instead have its crews practise docking with commercial landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin in Earth orbit in 2027, then try to reach the lunar surface in 2028, Nasa administrator Jared Isaacman said at a briefing on October 23.