Moon Monday #292: An obsessively linked rundown of recent global lunar exploration and cooperation updates

Mission updatesBeautiful shot of the Long March 5 rocket housing the Chang’e 7 spacecraft, imaged around its first lunar launch attempt in August at Wenchang | Image: NARITThe launch of China’s Chang’e 7 mission, intending to systematically study water ice on the Moon, was first delayed from late August 2026 to September due to poor weather conditions from a tropical depression but later delayed entirely to early next year without CMSA stating any specific reason. Jack Congram notes that the delay does take place against the background of quality issues facing China’s launch vehicles this year, amid otherwise successful streaks. The Sino government says it’s keen on resolving issues across the board.This means the next lunar mission launching this year could thus be Astrobotic’s large Griffin CLPS lander, which aims to land on the Moon’s south pole. It will deploy the FLIP rover by Astrolab (a Moon Monday sponsor), who onboarded last year after NASA decided not to fly the critical…