China's space race suffers setback: Agency behind 2030 manned moon mission says upcoming research trip is being delayed just two weeks after launch failure

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 15:02 EDT, 23 August 2026 | Updated: 15:33 EDT, 23 August 2026 China's space race suffered a setback today after the country said it would delay its moon mission after a launch failure less than two weeks ago. China's manned space agency said its mission to the moon 'does not meet launch conditions and cannot take place during the planned window this year'.It is part of Beijing's efforts to land a crew on the moon by 2030. The mission – meant to search for water on the moon's south pole – was scheduled to depart either over the weekend or Monday, according to media reports.The Monday before last, a Chinese Long March 7A rocket that was carrying a ChinaSat-4B communications satellite exploded less than a minute and a half after take-off. The failed mission had lifted off from the Wenchang Space Launch Site, state news agency Xinhua said at the time. An 'anomaly' occurred when the rocket carrying the Zhongxing-4B communications satellite was in flight, Xinhua added.Crowds watching the launch gasped as the rocket diverted and turned into a fireball after 85 seconds. The combination of the Chang'e-7 lunar probe and the Long March-5 Y14 carrier rocket was transferred vertically to the launching area at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province on Aug 19 but the mission has now been delayed The Monday before last, a Chinese Long March 7A rocket that was carrying a ChinaSat-4B communications satellite exploded less than a minute and a half after take-off Crowds watching the launch gasped as the rocket diverted and turned into a fireball after 85 secondsThe wreckage crashed into the South China Sea. The cancelled mission involved sending the Chang'e-7 lunar probe on a Long March 5 carrier rocket. As of Wednesday, the takeoff site and equipment were in good condition, with inspections to take place and a launch 'scheduled for the coming period'. China has ploughed billions of pounds into its space programme in recent years to achieve what President Xi Jinping calls the country's 'space dream'. Its space programme has overtaken Russia's to be the second-largest in the world after the United States. China wants to set up a permanent station on the moon by 2040. It already has an operational space station to match America’s.China successfully landed a reusable rocket for the first time in July, according to its space agency, marking a major step in its space ambitions and in reducing launch costs.But a litany of failed launches by private organisations that were bought by the Chinese government has raised questions on whether China has overloaded the programme in the past 12 months as it tries to compete with America's Artemis programme.