China is developing two super heavy-lift rockets for crewed missions and infrastructure launches to the moon.
The new launchers are intended to allow China to conduct short-term lunar landings before 2030, as well as to send large infrastructure pieces to the moon in the 2030s.
The Long March 9—a new generation crew launch vehicle and a super heavy-lift launcher—has been progressing in a systematic manner.
Unofficially, the new crew launcher is known as the CZ5DY, derived from the Chinese characters for Long March.
A two-stage version of the rocket is planned for a test flight in 2026, with the goal of launching a new generation crew spacecraft into low Earth orbit.
The kerosene-fueled rocket will be powered by clusters of upgraded versions of the existing YF-100 engine, and the launcher will be reusable as well.
The Long March 9 will launch elements for the planned International Lunar Research Station with a payload capacity of around 140 tonnes to LEO.