China announced a major breakthrough in its planned moon landing mission as the East Asian power and the United States race to send humans back to Earth's natural satellite. China is moving toward its goal of landing astronauts on the moon by 2030.

China has completed a critical landing and take-off test of its crewed lunar lander, moving a step closer to putting astronauts on the moon before 2030. A prototype of the four-legged Lanyue (“embrace the moon”) lander – designed to ferry two astronauts between lunar orbit and the surface – underwent a comprehensive trial on Wednesday in Huailai county,