Promise Ledger
China's cabinet; its Information Office publishes the national space white papers. These are the dated public commitments by State Council of China and its people that we could source to a primary, with what happened.
4 entries: 2 met; 1 met late; 1 pending.
Plain counts, not a grade or a ranking. A short record is not a complete one. Updated Sep 28, 2026; each entry shows the date it was last checked against its source; scoring rules on the methodology page.
This first release is a selection, and a short record is not a complete record. Each programme milestone enters the ledger at its earliest dated public commitment we can find in a primary source, for governments and companies alike. Later dated commitments for the same milestone are shown on that one entry as a revision chain, oldest first, rather than as separate entries.
Met late · worded as a target
Launch · State Council of China (White paper, State Council Information Office)
“We plan to fulfill the three strategic steps of “orbiting, landing and returning” for the lunar exploration project by launching the Chang’ e-5 lunar probe by the end of 2017”
Said . Source: State Council of the PRC (english.gov.cn): Full text of white paper on China’s space activities in 2016 (Dec 27, 2016, section on major tasks, lunar exploration)
Context: White paper "China’s Space Activities in 2016", official English text.
Outcome: Chang'e-5 launched from Wenchang early on 2020-11-24 Beijing time (2020-11-23 UTC). No dated official statement moving the 2017 date before 31 December 2017 was found on CNSA's English news list. (, 1,059 days after the deadline)
Outcome source: China National Space Administration: Chang’e 5 sets out to collect moon samples in landmark mission (Nov 24, 2020)
Checked against the source on Sep 26, 2026. Report a correction or send a response to this entry ·
Met · worded as a commitment
Launch · State Council of China (White paper, State Council Information Office)
“We will launch the Chang’e-4 lunar probe around 2018 to achieve mankind’ s first soft landing on the far side of the moon”
Said . Source: State Council of the PRC (english.gov.cn): Full text of white paper on China's space activities in 2016 (Dec 27, 2016, section on major tasks, lunar exploration)
Context: White paper 'China's Space Activities in 2016' (spacing in "mankind’ s" is as published).
Outcome: Chang'e-4 launched on 8 December 2018 (Beijing time; 7 December UTC) and soft-landed on the far side of the Moon on 3 January 2019. (, on or before the deadline)
Outcome source: China National Space Administration (Xinhua): China's Chang'e-4 probe makes historic landing on moon's far side (Jan 3, 2019)
Checked against the source on Sep 26, 2026. Report a correction or send a response to this entry ·
Met · worded as a target
Launch · State Council of China (White paper, State Council Information Office)
“It plans to launch the first Mars probe by 2020 to carry out orbiting and roving exploration.”
Said . Source: State Council of the PRC (english.gov.cn): Full text of white paper on China's space activities in 2016 (Dec 27, 2016, section on major tasks, deep space exploration)
Context: White paper 'China's Space Activities in 2016'; 'It' is China.
Outcome: Tianwen-1 (orbiter and rover) lifted off on a Long March 5 from Wenchang at 12:41 BJT on 23 July 2020 and entered the Earth-Mars transfer orbit. (, on or before the deadline)
Outcome source: China National Space Administration (Xinhua): Tianwen-1: China successfully launches probe in first Mars mission (Jul 23, 2020)
Checked against the source on Sep 26, 2026. Report a correction or send a response to this entry ·
Pending · worded as a commitment
Launch · State Council of China (White paper, State Council Information Office)
“In the next five years, China will continue with lunar and planetary exploration. It will: ... Launch the Chang'e-7 lunar probe to perform a precise landing in the moon's polar regions”
Said . Source: State Council of the PRC (english.gov.cn): Full Text: China’s Space Program: A 2021 Perspective (Jan 28, 2022, section on lunar and planetary exploration, next five years)
Context: Official English text of the white paper "China’s Space Program: A 2021 Perspective", section on the tasks for the next five years.
Later dated commitments for the same milestone
The counts use the original commitment. The latest date in the chain stands as: pending.
Outcome: On 23 August 2026, after the rocket and probe had been rolled out, CNSA and CMSA stated that Chang'e-7 did not meet launch conditions and could not launch in this year's planned window; no cause and no new date were given.
Outcome source: China National Space Administration: 嫦娥七号任务不满足发射条件 不能在今年预定窗口实施 (Aug 23, 2026)
Checked against the source on Sep 26, 2026. Report a correction or send a response to this entry ·
Open data: download the whole ledger (CSV, CC BY 4.0). Archived on Zenodo, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22985970. How entries are scored: methodology. No sponsor, advertiser or partner can add, remove, reorder, annotate or preview an entry, and these pages carry no advertising.
Cite as: SpaceNexus. (2026). SpaceNexus Promise Ledger (Version 2026-09-28) [Data set]. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22985970. Licensed CC BY 4.0.
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