China’s Queqiao-2 relay satellite for Chang’e-6 mission enters lunar orbit

BREAKING: China’s Queqiao-2 communications relay satellite entered lunar orbit March 24, paving the way for a lunar far side sample return mission. Queqiao-2 began a 19-minute-long braking burn at 12:46 p.m. Eastern Sunday (1646 UTC), allowing the spacecraft to be captured by the moon’s gravity, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced early March 25. The spacecraft is expected to have entered an initial 200 by 100,000-kilometer lunar orbit. Operators will further alter its orbit and inclination to bring Queqiao-2 into a 200 by 16,000-km, highly-elliptical “frozen” orbit. #chinaspace #LongMarch8 #Queqiao2