"…3, 2, 1, Ignition!"Amid the thunderous roar of the rocket and bearing the lunar exploration dream of hundreds of millions of Chinese people, China successfully launched the Chang'e‑4 probe aboard the Long March 3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 02:23 on December 8, embarking on a new journey of lunar exploration.

At 02:23 on December 8, China successfully launched the Chang'e-4 probe aboard the Long March 3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, marking the start of a new journey in lunar exploration.

Subsequently, the Chang'e-4 probe will undergo trans-lunar injection, lunar orbit insertion and circumlunar flight. It will eventually achieve humanity’s first soft landing on the far side of the Moon, carry out in-situ and roving exploration there, and realize relay communication between the lunar far side and the Earth with the support of the Queqiao relay satellite operating in its mission orbit.

The engineering objectives of the Chang'e-4 mission are as follows: first, to develop and launch a lunar relay communication satellite and achieve the world’s first measurement, control and relay communication at the Earth-Moon Lagrange Point L2; second, to develop and deploy a lunar lander and a rover, accomplishing the world’s first soft landing and roving exploration on the far side of the Moon.

The scientific tasks of Chang'e-4 mainly include conducting low-frequency radio astronomical observation and research on the lunar far side; detecting and studying the topography, mineral composition and shallow subsurface structure of the roving area on the lunar far side; and carrying out experimental exploration and research on the lunar environment such as neutron radiation dose and neutral atoms on the far side of the Moon.