China says it will launch its next lunar explorer in the first half of this year

FILE - In this photoreleased by Xinhua News Agency, the Chang'e 4 lunar probe launches from the the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern China's Sichuan province, on Dec. 8, 2018. China's space agency said Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 that its latest lunar explorer had arrived at the launch site in preparation for a mission to the moon in the first half of this year. (Jiang Hongjing/Xinhua via AP, File)

BEIJING (AP) — China's space agency said Wednesday that its latest lunar explorer had arrived at the launch site in preparation for a mission to the moon in the first half of this year.

State broadcaster CCTV posted photos on its website of the unit under wraps as it was unloaded from a large cargo airplane earlier this week and then transported by flatbed truck to the Wenchang launch site on southern China's Hainan island.

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