BEIJING - China launched an unmanned spacecraft on Friday to collect samples of soil from the far side of the Moon, state-run media reported, marking the world's first attempt at such an endeavour.
A Long March-5 rocket, carrying the Chang'e-6 spacecraft, blasted off from the Wenchang Space Launch Site on the coast of the southern island province of Hainan in the afternoon, according to Xinhua News Agency.
In December 2020, the Chang'e-5 space probe returned to Earth with the first lunar soil samples in 44 years.
In January 2019, the Chang'e-4 made the first-ever soft-landing by a spacecraft on the far side of the Moon, which always faces away from Earth, and successfully sent back the first photos of it.
Beijing aims to achieve a manned lunar landing by 2030 and complete a lunar research base by 2035.