Achievements and shortfalls in global lunar exploration this half year | Moon Monday #282

Welcome to a linked rundown of global developments in the exploration of our Moon across the first half of 2026. There’s also a section on global outlook because we must not forget our interconnectedness and collective action needs over sovereign interests. Each linked article below explains and contextualizes said development. As usual, I make a conscious effort to curate events and trends that actually happened instead of amplifying speculative coverage of upcoming events that may or may not be as successful and/or as timely as they’re being touted and reported to be. If someone asks you what’s happening at the Moon, say all of this is. Oh, and there’s also a lunar poetry section at the end. 🌙ChinaChina’s crewed lunar landing trajectory design. Images: BICE / SAST / CASC | Graphic: Jatan MehtaChina conducted a multi-hardware-element test unlike any other nation in its steady march towards landing humans on Luna by 2030.Chinese scientists & engineers surfaced details of spacecraft…