The Chang'e program began on Oct. 24, 2007, when a Long March 3A rocket launched the Chang'e-1 probe into a polar lunar orbit. When it comes to exploring the Moon, China isn't messing around.

The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP; Chinese: 中国探月; pinyin: Zhōngguó Tànyuè), also known as the Chang'e Project (Chinese: 嫦娥工程; pinyin: Cháng'é Gōngchéng) after the Chinese moon goddess Chang'e, is an ongoing series of robotic Moon missions by the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

CE-4 is one of the missions of the China Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP). In 2007, Chang'e 1 … With China still in its infancy in this field, we discuss how the overall goal of CLEP is to undertake substantial scientific exploration by laying a robust engineering and technical foundation, with an emphasis on international cooperation. The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP) to explore the moon has several phases, with the ultimate goal of returning moon rock samples to the Earth. Started in 2003, CLEP has launched two lunar orbiters (Chang’e 1 and Chang’e 2), and the two lunar landers (Chang’e 3 and Chang’e 4). The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP) is the CNSA program which operates robotic Moon missions.