As China ramps up its lunar exploration program in the coming decade, space-based lunar infrastructure is going to be a key enabler. Spacecraft and ground-based vehicles will increasingly need positioning and communication services, which is why China has launched a plan to establish a lunar satellite constellation called the "Queqiao constellation". The focus on the back side and the lunar south pole also means that communications will require relay satellites.
In preparation for this lunar constellation, expected in the 2030s, China has been launching single Queqiao spacecraft: the "Queqiao" in 2018, "Queqiao-2" in March 2024, and "Queqiao-3" by the end of the decade.
In this video, we cover this quest for lunar infrastructure, a low key but essential milestone for the establishment of China's future lunar outpost, the ILRS.

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00:00 Introduction
00:17 Lunar exploration & tidal locking
01:11 Queqiao-1 and Queqiao-2 relay missions
03:11 Launching the Queqiao lunar constellation
05:47 Equivalent projects by NASA and ESA