China to launch communications relay satellite to the moon in early 2024

China is preparing to launch a satellite to relay communications to and from the moon.

Queqiao 2 ("Magpie Bridge 2") will launch early next year and will be used to support China's upcoming Chang'e 6, 7 and 8 robotic lunar missions. 

Chang'e 6 will aim to collect the first-ever samples from the far side of the moon, which never faces Earth. Queqiao 2, like its predecessor Queqiao for the Chang'e 4 mission, will be used to ping communications between teams on Earth and the lander spacecraft on the lunar far side. 

Related: The latest news about China's space program

Chang'e 6 is scheduled to launch in May next year, according to officials speaking during events marking China's national space day last week. That means Queqiao 2 should lift off early in 2024, to ensure it's in place before Chang'e 6 reaches the moon.

The new communications satellite will also perform a similar role to support the Chang'e 7 and Chang'e 8 lunar south pole landing missions, scheduled for 2026 and 2028. The latter will test 3D printing bricks from the lunar regolith. 

The missions will be the basis for a larger plan known as the International Lunar Research Station to be constructed in the 2030s. 

Queqiao 2 will also launch with a pair of small experimental satellites for communication and navigation called Tiandu 1 and Tiandu 2. The satellites' name is taken from a main peak of the famous mountain Huangshan in Anhui Province.

Tiandu 1 and Tiandu 2 will be used to test and verify designs for a wider Queqiao constellation for lunar communications and navigation. NASA and the European Space Agency are, similarly, developing their own lunar infrastructure to support the Artemis program.

Queqiao, or Magpie Bridge, refers to a Chinese folktale in which two lovers are reunited once a year when a flock of magpies forms a bridge across the Milky Way.

Follow us @Spacedotcom, or on Facebook and Instagram.