By Wonderwall.com Editors
7:00am PDT, Mar 25, 2024
_
The space race continues! One week after SpaceX launched another test flight of the Starship rocket NASA plans to use on lunar missions, China launched a satellite designed to communicate with lunar landers on the far side of the moon.
Relay satellite Queqiao-2 blasted off aboard a Long March-8 rocket in China's Hainan province at 8:31 a.m. Beijing time on March 20, according to the China National Space Administration. The satellite will reportedly replace its predecessor, the Queqiao-1, in orbit around the moon ahead of China's scheduled 2024 mission to send the Chang'e-6 spacecraft to the moon's far side.
In 2018, China became the first country to land on the far side of the moon when its Chang'e-4 successfully arrived on the moon's previously unseen side. Since the far or "dark" side of the moon never faces Earth, satellites are needed to relay information back to the ground station from lunar rovers there.
On March 20, the Long-March 8 carrier rocket spent 24 minutes en route to its destination before dispatching the satellite, according to the South China Morning Post. The launch mission was deemed "a complete success" by the China National Space Administration, the outlet reported.
Keep reading for more details and photos of the carrier rocket and relay satellite blasting off toward the moon…
MORE: Follow Wonderwall on MSN for more fun celebrity & entertainment photo galleries and content
_
The Long March-8 Y3 carrier rocket carrying the relay satellite Queqiao-2 is pictured blasting off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Wenchang, Hainan Province of China, on March 20, 2024.
China's new communications satellite features signal relay capabilities as well as an ultraviolet camera and what the South China Morning Post described as a "long-distance radio astronomy experiment."
MORE: SpaceX Starship disintegrates in third test flight: See the best pictures
_
People gather and watch the launch of relay satellite Queqiao-2 at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Wenchang, Hainan Province of China, on March 20, 2024.
China launched the Queqiao 2, or Magpie Bridge 2, en route to lunar orbit to pave the way for prospective expeditions to the moon.
_
The Long March-8 Y3 carrier rocket carrying the relay satellite Queqiao-2 is seen blasting off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Wenchang, Hainan Province of China, on March 20, 2024.
China's new communications satellite has an estimated lifespan of eight years, according to China's space administration.
_
The Long March-8 Y3 carrier rocket and relay satellite Queqiao-2 are seen blasting off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Wenchang, Hainan Province of China, on March 20, 2024.
_
Here's another view of the Long March-8 Y3 carrier rocket carrying the relay satellite Queqiao-2 as it blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Wenchang, Hainan Province of China, on March 20, 2024.
_
People gather and watch the launch of relay satellite Queqiao-2 at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Wenchang, Hainan Province of China, on March 20, 2024.
_
People wait on the top of a building to watch the launch of the Queqiao-2 relay satellite near the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Wenchang, Hainan Province of China, on March 20, 2024.
China launched the Queqiao 2, or Magpie Bridge 2, en route to lunar orbit to pave the way for prospective expeditions to the moon.
_
The Long March-8 Y3 carrier rocket and relay satellite Queqiao-2 blast off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Wenchang, Hainan Province of China, on March 20, 2024.
_
The Long March-8 Y3 carrier rocket and relay satellite Queqiao-2 blast off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Wenchang, Hainan Province of China, on March 20, 2024.
_
The Long March-8 Y3 carrier rocket and relay satellite Queqiao-2 blast off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Wenchang, Hainan Province of China, on March 20, 2024.
_
People gather and watch the launch of relay satellite Queqiao-2 at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Wenchang, Hainan Province of China, on March 20, 2024.
_
Here's another view of the Long March-8 Y3 carrier rocket and relay satellite Queqiao-2 blasting off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Wenchang, Hainan Province of China, on March 20, 2024.
_
The Long March-8 Y3 carrier rocket carrying the relay satellite Queqiao-2 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Wenchang, Hainan Province of China, on March 20, 2024.
