Mission Atlas
← Mission directory

Mission record

Chang'e 5-T1

Also known as ChangeE5T1

China National Space Administration · Launched

Explore trajectory

Completed · Success

A Chinese circumlunar test flight that proved the high-speed atmospheric re-entry needed for a later lunar sample return.

Destinations
Moon
Launch vehicle
Long March 3C/E
Launch site
Xichang, Peoples Republic of China
Countries
Peoples Republic of China
Mission types
Flyby, Technology demonstrator

Chronology

Mission timeline

  1. Launch

    Chang'e 5-T1 launched on a Long March 3C/G2 from Xichang

  2. Flyby

    Closest approach to the Moon at about 11,300 km altitude

    Moon

  3. Sample return

    The Return Vehicle touched down at Siziwangqi in Inner Mongolia after a skip re-entry

    The page gives touchdown as "about 22:40 UT Oct. 31".

    Earth

  4. Orbit insertion

    The Test Vehicle left the L2 point and entered a 200 km lunar orbit

    Moon

  5. Impact

    The launch booster was calculated to impact the lunar far side

    Recorded as a disagreement rather than a fact about this spacecraft: the page says NASA calculations show the booster on a trajectory to impact the Moon on this date, and that China's foreign ministry denied the identification, stating the booster had already burned up in Earth's atmosphere.

    Moon

Mission architecture

Vehicles

  • Chang'e 5-T1 · Spacecraft

    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