[1][2] China intends to launch the Chang'e 8 mission as part of its plan to construct the International Lunar Research Station during the 2030s.
[3] The mission will serve as the basis for a larger scale robotic and crewed lunar research station during the ensuing decade.
CNSA has set December 31, 2023 as the deadline for the submission of letters of intent by interested parties to contribute payloads to the mission.
[4] Starvision Aerospace Group Limited, a Chinese commercial satellite design and data analysis company, Zhejiang University, and Turkiye's Middle East Technical University also will jointly develop two 5-kilogram micro-robots for the mission in order to facilitate lunar surface exploration.
In addition, the mission will feature a larger 100-kilogram roving robot to delpoy and install instruments and to otherwise explore the lunar surface; the development of this larger robot is being led by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and involves several Chinese Universities, the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, and the South African National Space Agency.