China’s Chang’e-7 gears up to hunt lunar ice at the south pole

China plans to launch the Chang’e-7 mission—an uncrewed lander, rover and hopping probe—to the Moon’s south pole to search permanently shadowed craters for water ice, a key resource for future bases. Slated for a November-style window from Wenchang on a Long March 5, the mission will test technology to access ice, inform possible joint studies with Russia, and lay groundwork for a crewed lunar landing by 2030 amid NASA’s Artemis program and other national efforts.