[21][22] The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program has started to incorporate private investment from individuals and enterprises for the first time, a move aimed at accelerating aerospace innovation, cutting production costs, and promoting military–civilian relationships.

[23] This mission will attempt to determine the age and composition of an unexplored region of the Moon, as well as develop technologies required for the later stages of the program.

[29] Landing took place on 3 January 2019 at 02:26 UTC,[13] shortly after lunar sunrise over the Von Kármán crater in the large South Pole-Aitken basin.

As part of the Lunar Exploration Program, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) launched the Queqiao (Chinese: 鹊桥; pinyin: Quèqiáo; lit.

[37] On 14 June 2018, Queqiao finished its final adjustment burn and entered the L2 halo mission orbit, which is about 65,000 kilometres (40,000 mi) from the Moon.

As part of the Chang'e 4 mission, two microsatellites (45 kg or 99 lb each) named Longjiang-1 and Longjiang-2 (Chinese: 龙江; pinyin: Lóng Jiāng; lit.

[42] These microsatellites were tasked to observe the sky at very low frequencies (1–30 megahertz), corresponding to wavelengths of 300 to 10 metres (984 to 33 ft), with the aim of studying energetic phenomena from celestial sources.

[2] Both the stationary lander and Yutu-2 rover are equipped with a radioisotope heater unit (RHU) in order to heat their subsystems during the long lunar nights,[47] while electrical power is generated by solar panels.

[48] On November 21, 2019, Yutu 2 broke the lunar longevity record, of 322 Earth days, previously held by the Soviet Union's Lunokhod 1 rover (Nov. 17, 1970 to Oct. 4, 1971).

[53][54] Additionally, this satellite hosts the Netherlands–China Low-Frequency Explorer (NCLE), an instrument performing astrophysical studies in the unexplored radio regime of 80 kilohertz to 80 megahertz.

The NCLE on the orbiter and the LFS on the lander work in synergy performing low-frequency (0.1–80 MHz) radio astronomical observations.

[43] The lander and rover carry scientific payloads to study the geophysics of the landing zone, with a life science and modest chemical analysis capability.

[8][51][43] The lander is equipped with the following payloads: According to the deputy project director, who would not quote an exact amount, "The cost (of the entire mission) is close to building one kilometer of subway.

[73] The landing site is within a crater called Von Kármán[8] (180 km (110 mi) diameter) in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the Moon that was still unexplored by landers.

[88] In February 2020, Chinese astronomers reported, for the first time, a high-resolution image of a lunar ejecta sequence, and, as well, direct analysis of its internal architecture.

These were based on observations made by the Lunar Penetrating Radar (LPR) on board the Yutu-2 rover while studying the far side of the Moon.

[93] China has agreed to a request from NASA to use the Chang'e 4 probe and Queqiao relay satellite in future American Moon missions.

[94] NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine congratulated China and hailed the success of the mission as "an impressive accomplishment".

[95] Martin Wieser of the Swedish Institute of Space Physics and principal investigator on one of the instruments onboard Chang'e, said: "We know the far side from orbital images and satellites, but we don't know it from the surface.