Photo: CNSA

Around 50 guests from 12 countries’ space agencies, including Pakistan, France, and Italy, as well as representatives from the United Nations and the European Space Agency, expressed on Friday willingness to seek cooperation with China in lunar and deep space exploration, as they gathered in Haikou, South China’s Hainan Province, to witness the launch of Chang’e-6 lunar probe, said the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Friday. 

The Chang’e-6 mission will carry a number of international payloads to the Moon, including the European Space Agency's lunar surface ion analyzer, France's radon detection instrument, Italy's laser corner reflector, and a CubeSat from Pakistan, the CNSA revealed to the Global Times. 

The guests are in Haikou for the Chang'e-6 International Payloads Workshop hosted by the CNSA, where they shared insights on the various scientific payloads to be sent to the Moon aboard the Chang’e-6 probe, which is scheduled to be launched between 5 to 6 pm Beijing time, with the preferred launch window targeted at 5:27 pm.

The participants of the workshop praised the extensive international cooperation carried out in the Friday mission and expressed willingness to seek new cooperation in lunar and deep space exploration with China, the CNSA told the Global Times. 

In return, the CNSA said it is willing to work with more countries to expand human knowledge on space, enhance the well-being of all human kind, and serve the advancement of human civilization.

The Chang'e-6 mission is tasked with collecting and returning samples from the moon's mysterious far side, the first endeavor of its kind in the history of human lunar exploration.

The Long March-5 Y8 carrier rocket has begun to be fueled with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen cryogenic propellant on Friday morning.