China is scheduled to launch a lunar test orbiter in the next few days, to lay the groundwork for the Chang'e-5 mission slated for 2017. The orbiter will be launched from south-west China's Xichang Satellite Launch Center between Friday and Sunday. It will be the test-bed for the Chang'e-5 mission, which hopes to return lunar samples to Earth.

Test orbiter to pave way for Lunar sample-return mission

Setting the stage for what could be China's first roundtrip to the Moon. The lunar test orbiter will travel all the way to the moon and enter its orbit. It will follow the same flight path as the Chang'e 2 and 3 missions. Tests will then be carried out to see if the orbiter can escape the Moon's orbit and return back to Earth.

"Six flight path corrections will be made during the flight, to ensure that the test orbiter be at the accurate re-entry point to Earth. We will also need to ensure it is at a certain speed at that point so it can return to Earth successfully." said Zhou Jianliang, Chief Engineer, Beijing Aerospace Control Center.

Getting the lunar orbiter into the Moon's orbit and back to Earth, is the core of the mission. Besides accurate handling of the orbiter, there are increased demands being placed on the carrier rocket - the Long March 3C as well.

"Six parameters in the rocket control system will help to strictly fix the re-entry point. Any error will result in a failure of the entire mission. We've also expanded the propellant tank to improve the rocket's carrying capacity." said Jiang Jie, Chief Engineer, Long March 3 Series.

The test orbiter is essentially a test bed for the Chang'e-5 mission scheduled to launch in 2017. The goal of that mission is to bring back lunar samples to Earth.

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