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Mission record

Chang'e 2

Also known as Change2

China National Space Administration · Launched

Explore trajectory

Completed · Success

China's second lunar orbiter, which mapped the Moon at higher resolution before leaving it to fly past the asteroid Toutatis.

Destinations
Moon
Launch vehicle
Long March 3C
Launch site
Xichang, Peoples Republic of China
Countries
Peoples Republic of China
Mission types
Orbiter, Flyby

Chronology

Mission timeline

  1. Launch

    Chang'e 2 launched on a Long March 3C from Xichang

  2. Orbit insertion

    Insertion into a 12 hour elliptical lunar polar orbit

    Moon

  3. Milestone

    Lowered to the 100 km nominal science orbit

    Moon

  4. Milestone

    The primary science mission ended

    Moon

  5. Departure

    Chang'e 2 left lunar orbit and entered orbit at the Sun-Earth L2 point

    Moon

  6. Flyby

    Chang'e 2 flew within about 3.2 km of asteroid 4179 Toutatis

Mission architecture

Vehicles

  • Chang'e 2 · Orbiter

    Destinations: Moon

Trajectory record

Trajectory dataset not yet available

No verified trajectory dataset is committed for this mission, so Mission Atlas renders no path.

Provenance

Sources

Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.

Data verified through August 27, 2026