--- description: The mission, part of the country's program to eventually land a man on the moon, will take eight days title: China Launches Lunar Orbiting Mission image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d334b9ed857f622/6987629735ba6ff748c04a69/ap635752813595.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # China Successfully Launches Unmanned Moon Mission by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 24, 2014 7:50 AM CUT  An unmanned spacecraft is launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province on Oct. 24, 2014 An unmanned spacecraft is launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province on Oct. 24, 2014Jiang Hongjing—AP by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 24, 2014 7:50 AM CUT A Chinese spacecraft was successfully launched on a round trip to the moon on Friday. The unmanned space vehicle, part of the country’s eventual goal to land a man on the moon, will complete an orbit of the planetary body before re-entering earth’s atmosphere and landing, according to a[ statement](http://www.sastind.gov.cn/n112/n117/c424107/content.html "undefined") released by the Chinese State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense. The flight is set to land at a base in the central region of Inner Mongolia eight days from its launch. China already has an unmanned rover on the lunar surface called Jade Rabbit, which was dispatched on a one-way mission, and also has plans to set up a permanently orbiting space station by 2020, [according](http://news.yahoo.com/china-launches-first-mission-moon-back-040224304.html "undefined") to AFP. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3536088/china-moon-return-lunar/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3536088/china-moon-return-lunar/"},"headline":"China Successfully Launches Unmanned Moon Mission","datePublished":"2014-10-24T07:50:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:59:32.064Z","description":"The mission, part of Beijing's program to eventually land a man on the moon, will take eight days","url":"https://time.com/3536088/china-moon-return-lunar/","keywords":["China","moon","launch","Success topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d334b9ed857f622/6987629735ba6ff748c04a69/ap635752813595.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d334b9ed857f622/6987629735ba6ff748c04a69/ap635752813595.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"China Space","caption":"China Space","creditText":"Jiang Hongjing—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3536088/china-moon-return-lunar/","name":"China Successfully Launches Unmanned Moon Mission"}}]}] ```