Thirteen domestic designers are competing to design the vehicle to be used on China's Chang'e I Moon Orbiting Project.

The remote-controlled "Moon Rover" will be used to perform experiments and send data back to the earth, said Ouyang Ziyuan, the probe program chief scientist.

Ouyang didn't disclose when this year China's first circumlunar exploration satellite, Chang'e I, would head upward. However, it would be launched three days ahead of the 35-minute period, which is suitable and called "the launching window," he was quoted as saying on Saturday in the Beijing Morning Post.

The satellite will be used for the launch of China's first lunar orbiter in 2007, which will provide 3D images of the moon's surface, probe the distribution of 14 usable elements on the moon, study lunar microwaves and estimate the depth of the moon's crust. The craft will also monitor the space environment between moon and earth.

The orbiting project and "Moon Rover" program are both part of China's overall lunar exploration program started in 2004. This will be followed by the third phase when a module will "drill out" moon material and bring it back to the earth.

All three will be completed by 2017 when China will give consideration to a manned lunar probe mission.

(Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2007)