China has postponed the launch of Chang’e-7, its lunar south pole mission, by about a month. The National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand, which built one of the mission’s instruments, announced on Aug. 23 that the Long March 5 Y14 launch, set for Aug. 25, “will be postponed by approximately 1 month.”
Xinhua carried a one-sentence statement the same day from the China Manned Space Agency: applying “the principle of prudence, reliability and absolute mission success,” the mission “does not meet launch conditions” and cannot be carried out in the scheduled window.
Tropical Depression Narra, which formed in the Gulf of Tonkin on Aug. 19 and is tracking toward Hainan, is blamed for closing the launch site.
